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AFRICA 


WM.  H.  SHEPPARD  AND  WIFE. 


PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 


INTRODUCTION 

BY 
RBV.  8.  H.  CHESTER,  D.D. 


BY 

WILLIAM  H.  8HEPPARD 

r£  .;/••- 


'2 


PENTECOSTAL      PUBLISHING     COMPANY 

Louisville,  Kentucky. 


TO 
THE   SOUTHERN   PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH 

Which   took   me   as   a   half-clad,   barefoot   boy   and 

trained  me  for  the  ministry  of  Christ,  and 

to  which  I  owe  all  I  am  or  ever 

hope  to  be 

THIS  BOOK  IS  GRATEFULLY  DEDICATED 

BY 
THE  AUTHOR 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Samuel  Norvell  Lapsley 

Map  of  Africa 

Wm.  H.  Sheppard  and  Mrs.  Sheppard 

Matadi  and  the  Congo  River 

Luebo  Rapids  and  the  Lulua  River 

Cannibal  dance  in  the  Congo 

Children  of  the  Pantops  Home,  Luebo 

Congo  corn  and  mill 

Prince  Mavamalinge  and  wife 

Congo  cloth 

A  dwarf  (Batwa) 

Dr.  Sheppard's  Congo  HOUM 

Sleeping  Sickness 

Church  at  Ibanje 

Interior  of  Ibanje  Church 

Bakuba  Fighting  Men 

Dr.  Sheppard  and  his  friend  Prince  Mashamalianga 

Fighting  Knives 

A  Congo  Cow  (goat) 


CONTENTS. 


1.  A  Ten  Thousand  Mile  Journey  11 

2.  Matadi  and  Stanley  Pool 21 

3.  The  Kwango  Expedition  41 

4.  Eight  Hundred  Miles  of  Peril 61 

5.  Beginnings  at  Luebo   63 

6.  Mr.  Lapsley's  Last  Journey 82 

7.  Into  a  Forbidden  Country 91 

8.  At  Lukenga's  Capital    110 

9.  Customs  in  Lukenga's  Land 123 

10.  Back  to  Luebo 144 

11.  His  Kingdom  Coming  in  Congo  164 


Wm.  H.  Sheppard's  Father  and  Mother 


INTRODUCTION. 


"Pioneers  in  Congo"  is  an  expansion  of  autobiographical 
and  historical  lectures  delivered  by  its  author,  Rev.  Wm.  H. 
Sheppard,  D.D.,  before  hundreds  of  our  Southern  Presbyter- 
ian congregations  and  before  a  number  of  prominent  churches 
in  the  North,  and  always  listened  to  with  profit  and  delight. 
On  one  occasion  when  called  upon  to  introduce  Dr.  Sheppard 
in  one  of  our  congregations,  I  used  these  words: 

"It  is  my  privilege  to  introduce  to  you  today  perhaps  the 
most  distinguished  and  certainly  the  most  widely  known  min- 
ister of  our  Southern  Presbyterian  Church.  For  one  thing, 
he  is  the  only  minister  on  our  roll  holding  a  fellowship  in  the 
Royal  Geographical  Society  of  London.  On  behalf  of  the  Ex- 
ecutive Committee  of  Foreign  Missions,  I  wish  to  say  that 
there  is  no  missionary  on  our  roll  more  beloved  or  more  high- 
ly esteemed  by  the  Committee  under  which  he  serves.  During 
the  time  of  his  missionary  service  he  has  been  called  to  rep- 
resent us  on  many  important  occasions.  He  has  stood  before 
kings,  both  white  kings  and  black  kings,  as  our  representa- 
tive. He  has  never  represented  us  anywhere  that  we  have 
not  had  reason  to  be  proud  of  the  manner  in  which  he  has 
done  it.  He  is  now  recognized  both  in  London  and  Brussels 
as  one  of  the  greatest  of  African  missionaries.  That  for 
which  the  Committee  of  Foreign  Missions  esteems  him  most 
is  not  the  fact  that  he  has  achieved  this  prominence  and  rec- 
ognition, but  that  having  achieved  it,  he  has  come  back  to  us 
the  same  simple-hearted,  humble,  earnest  Christian  man  that 
he  was  when  we  first  sent  him  out." 

Dr.  Sheppard  went  out  as  the  companion  of  Rev.  Samuel 
N.  Lapsley,  our  first  missionary  martyr  in  the  Congo.  The 
reader  will  be  struck  with  the  way  in  which,  in  telling  his 
story  up  to  the  time  of  Mr.  Lapsley's  death,  he  always  keeps 
Mr.  Lapsley  to  the  front  and  himself  in  the  background.  At 
the  same  time  he  will  observe,  what  Mr.  Lapsley  would  be 
quick  to  acknowledge  if  he  were  living,  that  in  many  of  the 
critical  situations  that  arose  it  was  the  ready  mother  wit  of 
the  author  of  this  book  by  means  of  which  they  were  extrica- 
ted. The  characteristic  modesty  of  Dr.  Sheppard  should  not 
be  permitted  to  deprive  him  of  the  honor  which  justly  belongs 
to  him  as  one  of  the  two  pioneeri  and  founders  of  this  MU- 
•ion,  which  has  developed  into  one  of  the  most  interesting  and 
successful  Missions  to  be  found  anywhere  in  the  world.  The 

9 


story  of  its  early  days  could  scarcely  be  told  in  a  more  inter- 
esting manner  than  it  is  told  in  this  volume. 

On  September  15,  1912,  Dr.  W.  H.  Sheppard  was  installed 
pastor  of  the  Hancock  Street  Presbyterian  Church  in  Louii- 
ville,  Ky.,  one  of  the  branches  of  the  work  of  which  the  Ker. 
John  Little  is  superintendent.  He  writes  of  Dr.  Sheppard 
and  his  work  during  the  past  four  and  a  half  years  as  fol- 
lows: 

"He  has  given  himself  to  this  work  in  the  same  earnest 
and  self-denying  spirit  that  characterized  his  service  in  the 
Congo  and  has  won  the  love  and  confidence  of  his  associates 
and  of  the  people  among  whom  he  labors.  He  has  not  only 
done  much  to  build  up  the  membership  and  train  it  properly, 
but  he  has  also  cultivated  a  friendly  co-operative  spirit  with 
the  other  previously  hostile  denominations.  After  these 
years  of  association  with  him,  we  have  come  to  feel  that  your 
estimate  of  him  as  expressed  above  is  not  exaggerated." 

8.  H.  Chester. 


PIONEERS  IN  CONGO. 
CHAPTER  I. 

A  TEN  THOUSAND  MILE  JOURNEY. 

Many  requests  have  been  made  of  me  to  write 
something  of  my  life.  May  I  say  that,  even  from  the 
beginning,  it  has  been  a  very  checkered  one.  I  shall 
dwell  but  lightly  upon  my  American  life  of  twenty- 
five  years;  speaking  more  in  detail  of  my  African 
life  of  twenty  years. 

I  was  born  in  Waynesboro,  Virginia,  a  small  town 
on  the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  Railroad.  My  parents, 
William  and  Fannie  Sheppard  (still  living)  are  good 
Presbyterians.  There  are  so  many  lovely  traits  about 
my  parents,  I  am  puzzled  which  to  mention.  How- 
ever, my  father  not  only  had  family  prayers,  but  my 
dear  mother  in  putting  me  to  bed  would  kneel  and 
pray  aloud  with  me  rather  than  have  me  say  alone, 
"Now  I  lay  me  down  to  sleep,"  etc.  Mother  would 
scratch  my  back  (which  I  enjoyed  very  much) ,  then 
put  me  snugly  to  bed,  and  in  a  few  minutes  I  was 
asleep.  Mother  never  turned  anyone  from  her  door 
who  came  begging,  whether  white  or  colored,  with- 
out offering  them  such  as  she  had.  My  father  for 
many  years  was  sexton  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  In  our  town. 

The  white  people  were  always  very  kind  to  ua — as 
they  were  to  all  the  colored  people. 

11 


13  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

MY  FIRST  IMPRESSION  ON  THE  SUBJECT  OF  BEING 
A  MISSIONARY. — While  still  a  barefoot  boy  a  beauti- 
ful Christian  lady,  Mrs.  Ann  Bruce,  said  to  me  one 
day,  "William,  I  pray  for  you,  and  hope  some  day 
you  may  go  to  Africa  as  a  missionary." 

I  had  never  heard  of  Africa,  and  those  words 
made  a  lasting  impression.  God  bless  that  good 
lady,  so  interested  in  me  and  Africa. 

My  first  work  as  a  boy  was  carrying  water  from  a 
pump  a  block  away  morning  and  evening  for  Mrs. 
Annie  M.  Lowry.  This  was  during  the  summer 
months.  My  mother  was  then,  and  is  today,  bath 
maid  at  the  Warm  Springs,  Virginia,  and  my  father 
is  still  in  the  barber  business.  My  sister  Eva,  older 
than  I,  had  gone  to  Staunton,  twelve  miles  from 
Waynesboro,  to  live  with  an  aunt.  With  permission 
from  my  parents  I  soon  joined  her.  After  being 
there  for  some  months,  I  heard  of  a  family  who 
wanted  to  hire  a  boy  to  look  after  a  horse.  I  applied 
and  secured  the  position,  spending  two  years  with 
Dr.  S.  H.  Henkel  (the  dentist.)  In  a  back  room  of 
the  doctor's  office  was  a  box  filled  with  teeth.  It 
puzzled  me  much  to  think  how  in  the  world  the  peo- 
ple on  resurrection  day  were  to  get  their  own  teeth 
back.  I  loved  my  new  home,  for  Dr.  Henkel  and  hfs 
wife  were  so  kind  to  me.  They  spent  much  time  in 
instructing  me  in  my  books  at  night. 

My  next  work  was  waiting  in  the  McCurdy  House 
at  Clifton  Forge,  Va.  Later  I  was  sent  to  Coving- 
ton,  Va.,  also  a  McCurdy  House,  as  head  waiter.  This 
was  a  promotion,  though  there  were  only  two  of  us 


A  TEN  THOUSAND  MILE  JOURNEY      18 

&B  waiters  in  the  house.  While  at  Covington  I  heard 
of  the  Hampton  Normal  and  Industrial  Institute.  I 
secured  some  literature  from  there  and  read  careful- 
ly every  word.  I  saved  my  money,  and  in  1880  said 
good-bye  to  my  parents  and  was  off  for  school.  I  had 
made  no  formal  application,  but  good  General  Arm- 
strong, President  of  the  Institute,  received  me  kind- 
ly. The  first  year  I  worked  on  the  farm,  and  later 
worked  in  the  bakery,  going  to  school  at  night.  I 
loved  to  swim  and  fish,  and  every  advantage  was  af- 
forded me.  The  Hampton  creek  was  filled  with  fish, 
oysters  and  crabs,  and  the  broad  ocean  beyond  was 
at  my  disposal. 

General  Armstrong  was  my  ideal  of  manhood :  his 
erect  carriage,  deep,  penetrating  eyes,  pleasant 
smiles  and  kindly  disposition  drew  all  students  to 
him.  He  was  a  great,  tender-hearted  father  to  us 
all,  and  the  teachers  were  also  deeply  interested  in 
the  welfare  of  the  students. 

Dr.  H.  B.  Frissell,  who  was  chaplain  of  the  Insti- 
tute, was  also  a  loving,  congenial  friend  to  us  all. 
One  Sabbath  afternoon  he  asked  me  to  accompany 
him  and  some  of  the  teachers  to  establish  a  mission 
Sunday  school  at  Slabtown,  a  small  village  of  poor 
colored  people  about  a  mile  from  the  school.  I  went 
with  him  gladly  and  carried  some  of  the  Bibles  and 
hymn  books.  I  felt  from  that  afternoon  that  my  fu- 
ture work  was  to  carry  the  gospel  to  the  poor,  desti- 
tute and  forgotten  people.  Dr.  Frissell,  God  bless 
him,  was  one  of  the  humblest  and  most  consecrated 
Christian  gentlemen  I  ever  knew. 


14  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

From  Hampton  I  returned  to  my  parents'  home  in 
Waynesboro.  Then  I  applied  to  our  Church  to  be 
taken  under  the  care  of  the  Presbytery,  and  to  be 
sent  to  the  Theological  Institute  at  Tuscaloosa,  Ala. 

Our  dear  good  pastor,  Rev.  Frank  McCutchan,  who 
was  deeply  interested  in  me,  wrote  Dr.  Stillman,  the 
founder  and  President  of  the  Institute,  a  letter  con- 
cerning me.  A  reply  soon  came  that  I  would  be  ac- 
cepted. I  humbly  bowed  my  head  in  grateful  thanks 
to  Him  who  has  said,  "Whatever  ye  shall  ask  in 
prayer,  believing,  ye  shall  receive. 

AT  TUSCALOOSA  THEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. — A 
question  asked  me  in  my  examination  by  both  the 
Presbytery  in  Waynesboro,  Va.,  and  by  the  faculty 
of  the  Tuscaloosa  Institute  was:  "If  you  are  called 
upon  to  go  to  Africa  as  a  missionary,  would  you  be 
willing  to  go?"  I  promptly  answered,  "I  would  go, 
and  with  pleasure." 

During  my  three  years  in  the  Institute  I  did  mis- 
sionary work  around  the  town,  visiting  and  praying 
with  the  sick — a  work  which  I  enjoyed  so  much. 

Dr.  Stillman  longed  to  do  something  for  the  uplift 
of  the  colored  ministry.  The  white  citizens  co-oper- 
ated heartily  with  him  in  this  mission  of  love.  Some 
of  our  most  prominent  white  ladies  taught  in  the 
colored  Sunday  school  organized  by  the  Church. 

From  Tuscaloosa  I  was  called  to  take  charge  of  a 
church  in  Montgomery,  Ala.  Three  years  were 
spent  here  very  profitably,  as  I  believe. 

I  was  called  to  Atlanta,  Ga.,  and  was  ordained  pas- 
tor of  the  Harrison  Street  Presbyterian  Church  in 


A  TEN  THOUSAND  MILE  JOURNEY      15 

1887.  For  a  number  of  years  I  applied  to  our  For- 
eign Mission  Board,  whose  headquarters  were  then 
in  Baltimore.  My  appeals  met  with  no  success  then, 
but  I  was  not  discouraged.  I  made  a  trip  to  our 
Foreign  Mission  office  and  laid  my  plans  before  our 
secretary,  Dr.  M.  H.  Houston. 

In  1890  the  joyful  tidings  came  that  Rev.  S.  N. 
Lapsley,  a  young  white  man  of  Anniston,  Ala.,  and  I 
had  been  appointed  as  missionaries  of  the  Southern 
Presbyterian  Church  to  Africa,  and  that  we  were  to 
proceed  to  the  Congo  Independent  State,  West  Cen- 
tral Africa,  as  soon  as  we  could  prepare  for  the  jour- 
ney. My  heart  had  never  been  made  so  happy.  Rev. 
Mr.  Lapsley  and  I  met  the  Executive  Committee  in 
Nashville,  Tenn.  Many  questions  were  asked  us 
about  the  new  country  to  which  we  were  going.  Mr. 
Lapsley  was  intelligent  on  many  of  the  questions 
asked ;  I  knew  a  few  things  which  I  had  learned  from 
geography,  but  it  was  all  very  vague.  We  decided  to 
meet  in  New  York  and  sail  from  that  port  to  Eng- 
land. 

SETTING  SAIL  FOR  ENGLAND. — In  1890,  as  the 
Adriatic  slowly  steamed  out  from  the  pier  in  New 
York  City  a  kind  lady  called  out  as  she  waved, 
"Sheppard,  take  care  of  Sam."  It  was  Mrs.  Lapsley, 
wife  of  Judge  James  W.  Lapsley,  of  Alabama.  This 
good  lady  had  given  her  prayers  and  money  to  the 
Master  for  the  cause  of  Foreign  Missions  and  now 
»he  gave  of  her  own  flesh  and  blood  her  son,  and 
waved  him  a  sad  farewell. 
Judge  Lapsley  and  his  wife  returned  to  their  home 


16  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO. 

in  Alabama — that  home  had  changed,  there  was  a 
vacant  chair  and  a  voice  that  was  not  heard.  Our 
faces  were  turned  now  toward  Africa,  next  to  the 
largest  continent  of  the  world,  the  richest,  the  dark- 
est, and  the  most  neglected. 

It  is  sad  to  leave  home,  friends  and  native  land 
and  seek  a  home  among  strangers,  yet  it  was  for  the 
Master's  sake. 

"Native  land,  we  love  thee; 
All  thy  scenes,  we  love  them  well 
Home,  and  friends,  which  smile  around  us, 
Can  we  leave  thee  ?    Can  we  say  farewell  ? 
Far  in  heathen  lands  to  dwell  ? 

"Yes,  we  hasten  from  thee  gladly 
To  the  strangers,  let  us  tell 
How  He  died,  the  Blessed  Saviour, 
To  redeem  a  world  from  hell — 
Native  land,  Farewell,  farewell!" 

The  Adriatic  soon  put  a  vast  space  between  us  and 
our  home  people  like  a  blank  page  in  existence. 

During  the  voyage  of  eleven  days  which  brought 
us  to  Liverpool,  we  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing 
whales,  porpoises,  and  flying  fish.  From  Liverpool 
we  went  by  rail  to  London,  where  we  received  the 
greatest  hospitality  possible  at  "Harley  House"  from 
Dr.  Grattan  Guinness  and  family.  They  spared  no 
pains  in  helping  us  in  every  way  they  could.  We 
hadn't  words  to  express  our  gratitude  to  them.  This 
whole  family  was  imbued  with  the  missionary  spirit. 

SECURING  OUR  AFRICAN  SUPPLIES. — After  ex- 
changing most  of  our  American  money  for  cowrie 
shells,  beads,  salt  and  brass  wire — these  were  our 
future  currency — we  purchased  flour,  sugar,  butter 


A  TEN  THOUSAND  MILE  JOURNEY      17 

and  lard ;  also  thin  linen  clothing  and  helmets  for  the 
sun. 

While  our  outfit  and  supplies  were  being  gotten  to- 
gether, we  made  ourselves  useful  in  accepting  invita- 
tions to  speak  and  in  visiting  places  of  interest. 
Some  of  the  places  where  we  spoke  were  Hyde  Park, 
Burger  Hall,  East  London  Tabernacle,  Harley  House, 
Edinburgh  Castle,  Dr.  Barmandos  Orphanage,  and 
White  Chapel.  We  visited  the  Bank  of  England, 
Crystal  Palace,  Tower  of  London,  Houses  of  Parlia- 
ment, Westminster  Abbey,  Royal  Exchange,  British 
Museum,  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  and  Livingstone's 
grave.  The  sight-seeing  helped  in  our  business  af- 
fairs and  we  were  made  exceedingly  comfortable  in 
a  strange  land  and  city  by  Mr.  Robert  Whyte,  of  51 
King  Henry's  Road,  a  splendid  Christian  gentleman. 

FROM  LONDON  TO  ROTTERDAM. — At  the  Liverpool 
Street  Railroad  station  a  number  of  friends  had 
gathered.  They  sang  gospel  hymns  as  our  train  pull- 
ed out  for  Harwich.  The  train  was  soon  well  under 
way,  speeding  along  the  ringing  rails  at  a  mile  a 
minute  till  we  reached  Harwich.  Here  we  went 
aboard  a  steamer,  which  puffed  and  ploughed 
through  the  heavy  sea  all  night  and  landed  us  in  Rot- 
terdam, Holland,  early  next  morning.  Were  we  sea 
sick  ?  Well,  we  lost  in  this  single  night  all  the  flesh 
which  we  had  gained  in  our  long  stay  in  England. 
There  is  no  sickness,  to  me,  like  sea-sickness.  It  is  a 
combination  of  all  maladies. 

Toward  evening  we  boarded  the  Afrikaan,  a  small 
Dutch  trading  ship,  bound  for  the  Congo.  The  other 


18  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO. 

passengers  were  English  and  Swedish  missionaries 
and  Dutch  traders.  We  had  a  good  supply  of  a  cure 
for  sea-sickness,  but  when  we  were  well  out  where 
the  wind  blew  we  found  that  meals  and  medicine  for- 
sook us. 

ARRIVAL  AT  BANANA. — "SHARKS  POINT." — After 
nearly  three  weeks'  sailing  we  sighted  "Sharks 
Point"  on  the  great  Congo  River. 

We  disembarked  here,  our  first  stop  in  the  Dark 
Continent.  The  beach  was  thronged  with  half-clad 
natives,  called  Luongas.  We  found  this  point  well 
named,  for  the  river  swarmed  with  man-eating 
sharks. 

OUR  FIRST  EXCITEMENT. — While  bathing  in  the 
surf  one  afternoon,  Mr.  Lapsley  called  in  a  loud  dis- 
tressing voice  as  he  rushed  out  on  the  beach  and  lay 
speechless  for  a  moment.  Coming  near  him  he  ex- 
claimed, "I  was  nearly  taken  by  a  shark." 

The  Congo  river  at  this  point  by  actual  measure- 
ment is  seven  miles  wide.  If  you  include  the  sand 
banks,  small  streams  and  pools,  it  is  seventeen  miles 
wide,  and  the  dark,  tea-colored  water  can  be  discern- 
ed one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  out  at  sea.  There  are 
thousands  of  banana  trees  growing  on  the  narrow 
peninsula. 

Our  first  dinner  on  shore  at  a  trading  post  was  en- 
joyed very  much.  We  ate  bananas  until  we  were  em- 
barrassed. When  we  went  out  on  the  shady  side  of 
the  house  we  beckoned  to  the  native  who  had  been 
waiting  on  the  table  and  made  him  understand  that 
we  were  from  a  country  where  bananas  were  scarce, 


A  TEN  THOUSAND  MILE  JOURNEY       19 

and  that  we  wanted  him  to  bring  us  a  few  more,  if  it 
was  convenient  to  him.  The  fellow  smiled  and  bowed, 
showing  that  he  understood  us,  and  in  a  few  min- 
utes he  came  back  with  as  many  bananas  as  he  could 
carry. 

A  START  FOE  BOMA. — Our  next  stop  was  Boma,  the 
capital  of  the  Congo  Free  State.  The  name  means 
"Python."  The  principal  part  of  the  town  is  on  the 
slope  of  a  hill.  Near  the  river  it  is  swampy  and  in 
the  marshes  the  alligator  and  boa-constrictor  make 
their  home. 

A  JOKE  ON  Us. — On  board  ship  we  usually  had  for 
dinner  soup,  roast  beef,  vegetables  and  dessert.  At 
Boma  we  went  into  a  Portuguese  hotel  to  take  din- 
ner. Being  very  hungry,  we  had  soup  twice,  a  good 
helping  of  fish  followed,  then  came  beef  and  vegeta- 
bles. Thinking  this  was  all,  we  ate  like  wild  men. 
Our  plates  were  taken  away  and  soon  a  new  course 
was  brought  in.  We  refused.  (Had  to.)  Pretty 
soon  another  course.  Others  at  the  table,  who  had 
eaten  more  moderately  and  knew  there  were  six 
more  courses  smiled  at  us  every  time  fresh  plates 
were  brought.  And  there  we  eat,  certainly  an  hour, 
and  very  uncomfortable,  until  dessert  was  served. 
There  were  perhaps  about  seventy  foreigners  in 
Boma — Belgians,  Portuguese  and  English. 

STEAMING  FOR  MATADI. — After  a  short  stay  in 
Boma  we  continued  on  our  river  journey  to  Matadi, 
one  hundred  and  eighty  miles  from  the  sea.  Matadi 
is  a  native  name,  meaning  stones. 

We  mentioned  to  a  missionary  that  the  natives 


20  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO. 

were  very  active  and  swift.  The  missionary  ex- 
plained that  if  we  had  those  stones  under  our  bare 
feet  we  would  move,  too.  The  sun  seems  to  shine  no- 
where so  hot  as  down  upon  these  slick  stones.  We 
found  about  fifteen  foreigners  here,  most  of  them 
Belgians  and  Dutch.  They  were  very  yellow  from 
the  effects  of  the  sun  and  fever. 


CHAPTER  IL 

MATADI  AND  STANLEY  POOL. 

INTRODUCTION  TO  AN  AFRICAN  FEVER. — In  speak- 
ing of  fever,  we  made  the  acquaintance  of  three 
forms  of  African  fever ;  remittent,  intermittent,  and 
bilious  hematuric.  They  are  not  contagious,  but  a 
mosquito  which  has  bitten  an  infected  person  inocu- 
lates that  poison  into  your  blood  and  causes  the  fev- 
er. 

Mr,  Lapsley  and  I  both  had  fever  at  the  same  time 
with  about  the  same  rise  of  temperature  and  dura- 
tion. The  kind  missionaries  of  the  Baptist  Mission, 
Messrs.  Lawson  Forfeit,  and  S.  C.  Graham,  gave 
us  five  grains  of  calomel  and  five  grains  of  jalap 
each,  and  told  us  to  go  to  bed.  We  were  covered  with 
six  blankets,  hot  tea,  cup  after  cup,  followed  in  quick 
succession,  and  soon  we  were  like  two  ducks  in  a 
puddle  of  water.  We  had  never  perspired  so  in  all 
our  days.  The  Missionaries  were  kept  busy  from 
room  to  room  keeping  the  blankets  on  us.  On  a  day 
when  it  was  99  in  the  shade  and  not  possible  to 
register  in  the  sun,  we  were  under  six  blankets,  and 
on  the  outside  of  all  that  calomel,  jalap  tea,  and  fifty 
grains  of  quinine.  It  was  enough  to  kill  the  fever, 
which  it  did  effectually. 

OUR  FIRST  HUNT. — We  were  anxious  to  try  our 
guns,  and  in  company  with  two  natives,  we  went 
down  the  river  about  a  mile,  shot  an  enormous  eagle, 

21 


22 


a  black  monkey  and  a  water  snake  seven  feet  long. 
The  natives  were  delighted  with  the  eagle  and  the 
monkey  for  their  supper  but  threw  the  snake  away. 
The  natives  told  us  that  there  were  plenty  of  buffalo 
about  two  miles  away  in  the  deep  grass,  but  we  made 
ourselves  contented  with  the  game  we  had  and  re- 
turned to  the  mission  station. 

IN  HELL'S  CAULDRON. — The  waters  of  the  great 
Congo  river  and  its  hundreds  of  tributaries,  as  with 
the  rush  of  a  mighty  mill  race,  make  an  acute  turn 
just  here,  and  form  a  deep,  dashing,  dangerous 
whirl-pool.  Only  the  strongest  ocean  steamers  can 
breast  the  current,  with  safety.  The  people  told  us 
of  a  Portuguese  steamer  which  was  swallowed  up 
trying  to  make  her  way  through  the  pool. 

The  moaning  of  the  seething  sea-serpent,  can  be 
heard  miles  away.  Being  ignorant  of  its  great 
drawing  power,  we  tried  to  cross  the  river  three 
hundred  yards  above.  In  spite  of  our  desperate  ef- 
forts to  reach  the  north  bank  we  were  drawn  in  as  a 
floating  stick.  We  spun  round  and  round  like  a  top, 
the  boat  all  the  time  at  an  angle  of  about  forty  de- 
grees, till  we  were  dizzy.  Natives  on  shore  informed 
the  other  missionaries  of  our  perilous  predicament. 
We  thought  of  our  watery  graves  and  all  of  our 
past  life  flashed  before  us.  "Oh !  save  us  Master,  or 
we  perish,"  we  prayed.  In  a  moment,  as  if  miracu- 
lously, the  seething  cauldron  ceased  for  a  second,  and 
by  an  awful  struggle  for  life,  we  rowed  out  and  land- 
ed, to  the  delight  of  the  excited  crowd. 

MOUNDS  OF  TRIUMPHANT  MARTYRS. — Down  at  the 


MATADI  AND  STANLEY  POOL  28 

bottom  of  the  hill  near  the  river  bank  shaded  by 
evergreens  is  the  sacred  spot.  Faithful  missionaries 
of  Jesus  are  sleeping  there. 

In  Great  Britain,  Sweden,  and  America  they  were 
told  that  the  climate  was  deadly ;  that  they  would  be 
pelted  by  the  rains,  scorched  by  the  sun,  and  mur- 
dered by  the  natives.  Yet  in  full  knowledge  of  these 
conditions  and  with  hearts  imbued  with  the  spirit  of 
God  they  went  forth  on  their  mission  of  love.  A  kiss 
upon  the  cheek,  a  mingling  of  tears,  a  wave  of  the 
handkerchief  and  they  were  off  on  their  errand  for 
their  King. 

Emaciated  by  deadly  fevers,  pelted  by  tropical 
storms,  stung  by  the  tsetse  flies  fresh  from  the  laz- 
aretto of  misery,  fatigued  and  foot  sore  from  many 
a  tramp,  they  have  lain  themselves  down  in  this 
pleasant  dale  "Till  He  comes." 

OUE  TRAMP  TO  STANLEY  POOL. — Africa  is  divided 
into  the  following  races :  the  Vardens  occupying  the 
North,  the  Fulah  in  the  Soudan,  the  Bantu  in  Cen- 
tral Africa,  the  Hottentot  and  the  Kaffirs  in  the 
South.  These  races  are  divided  into  683  tribes,  and 
as  they  differ  in  name  so  they  differ  in  habits,  cus- 
toms and  conditions. 

The  navigable  part  of  the  Congo  river  from  the 
Atlantic  ocean  ends  here  under  the  Livingstone  Cat- 
aracts, but  above  the  250  miles  of  succession  of  cat- 
aracts we  are  told  that  the  great  Congo  is  navigable 
for  a  thousand  miles.  There  are  no  wagons,  horses, 
camels  or  oxen  in  this  region.  The  Ba-Congo  native 
is  the  burden  bearer.  There  are  40,000  on  the  cara- 


ft*  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

van  road  of  250  miles  between  Matadi  and  Stanley 
Pool.  These  men  go  up  bearing  loads  of  beads,  brass 
wire,  bales  of  cloth,  cowrie  shells  and  European 
provisions  of  all  kinds.  The  carriers  on  their  return 
journey  to  Matadi  bring  ivory,  rubber,  cam  wood 
and  gum  copal.  The  carrying  capacity  of  each  na- 
tive's head  is  sixty-five  pounds. 

On  the  27th  of  June,  1890,  we  secured  twenty-five 
of  these  burden-bearers  to  carry  our  loads  of  tent, 
beds,  bedding,  trunks,  chairs,  guns,  corned  beef,  hard 
tack,  lard,  salt,  tea,  coffee  and  sugar.  We  wrote 
carefully  in  our  memorandums  the  name  and  town 
of  each  man,  for  we  were  told  that  very  often  a  car- 
rier hearing  of  the  death  of  some  relative  will  leave 
the  caravan  without  notifying  you,  and  the  period 
of  mourning  often  lasts  six  months. 

It  has  been  known  that  sometimes  traders  coming 
into  camp  in  the  evening  would  find  that  their  food, 
cooking  utensils,  tent  or  something  very  necessary 
was  five  or  six  miles  off  in  some  other  village.  Hav- 
ing the  name  and  town  of  your  missing  man,  you  can 
send  runners  to  bring  back  your  needed  load. 

Saying  good-bye  to  the  kind  missionaries,  we 
started  out  at  the  rear  of  our  Indian  filing  caravan 
on  a  trail  about  twelve  inches  broad  and  running  as 
crooked  as  a  snake  down  and  up  hill,  over  rough 
stones,  and  through  high  grass.  After  three  hours 
hard  marching  we  came  to  our  first  river,  the  Mpozo. 
The  river  was  not  very  deep  or  broad,  but  it  was 
clear  and  swift  and  one  solid  bed  of  boulders.  A  few 
calls  from  our  head  man  brought  the  boatman  from 


A  BOA  SWALLOWING  A  HOG. 


MATADI  AND  STANLEY  POOL.  26 

his  shack,  and  he  soon  had  us  ferried  across  in  a  na- 
tive canoe. 

OUR  FIRST  CONGO  TRAMP. — By  the  help  of  the  na- 
tives we  soon  had  our  tent  stretched,  the  ground 
sheet  spread  inside,  and  the  couches  made  up.  One 
of  the  natives  brought  us  an  armful  of  wood  and  the 
camp  fire  was  started.  We  asked  the  head  man  if 
any  of  the  caravan  knew  how  to  cook,  and  the  re- 
sponse was,  "They  all  know  how  to  cook."  We  were 
told  that  all  men  belonging  to  the  caravan  learned  to 
cook.  A  cook  demands  extra  pay  and  also  gets  fat 
"en  route"  by  tasting  the  food. 

We  had  for  our  first  supper  crackers,  jam,  tea  and 
river  water. 

MOUNTAIN  CLIMBING. — We  were  up  at  five  o'clock, 
had  breakfast,  an  exact  duplicate  of  our  supper,  and 
began  to  climb  over  stones,  around  cliffs,  following 
the  narrow  trail  for  three  hours  till  we  reached  the 
top,  footsore  and  hungry. 

Near  the  top  of  this  mountain  there  is  a  mission 
of  the  American  Baptist  Union,  which  bears  the 
name  of  the  mountain,  Mpalabala.  We  were  receiv- 
ed most  cordially  by  all  the  missionaries  and  were 
soon  rested  on  a  cool  veranda.  We  were  shown 
around  the  Mission  compound,  the  chapel,  the  school, 
the  dispensary,  and  the  native  town  which  was  near 
by.  We  also  heard  some  good  singing  in  the  native 
tongue. 

In  the  afternoon  we  started  our  downward  trail, 
slipping  and  sliding  over  sharp  rocks  and  slippery 
boulders,  till  we  reached  a  creek  at  the  bottom.  Hav- 


26  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

ing  learned  how,  we  had  less  trouble  getting  up  the 
tent  here  than  we  had  at  the  Mpozo.  We  had  for  our 
supper  corned  beef,  crackers,  tea  and  creek  water. 

The  missionaries  told  us  to  begin  our  marches 
about  five  o'clock  A.  M.,  and  rest  in  some  shady  place 
by  a  stream  from  eleven  until  four,  march  again  for 
two  hours,  and  camp,  thus  making  eight  hours  a  day, 
or  about  twenty-five  miles  in  the  eight  hours. 

WHERE  STANLEY  PASSED. — The  country  just  this 
side  of  the  mountain  is  not  so  hilly  or  rocky  as  that 
near  Matadi.  We  found  a  road  had  been  made  by 
Mr.  Stanley  and  saw  some  of  Stanley's  heavy  iron 
wagon  wheels  lying  by  the  roadside ;  also  sun-bleach- 
ed skeletons  of  native  carriers  here  and  there  who 
by  sickness,  hunger  or  fatigue,  had  lain  themselves 
down  to  die,  without  fellow  or  friend. 

A  WARNING  TO  OTHERS. — We  passed  an  old  mark- 
et place  on  the  plain  and  near  by  a  palm  tree  were 
two  old  flint-lock  muskets  driven  into  the  ground, 
muzzle  first.  It  was  explained  to  us  that  for  murder 
two  men  had  been  tried,  condemned,  and  hung  in 
the  public  market.  Their  bodies  had  been  eaten  by 
leopards  and  jackals  and  their  guns  driven  into  the 
ground  as  a  visible  warning  to  others. 

SICK  AND  HELPLESS  AND  READY  TO  DIE. — In  pass- 
ing a  cluster  of  bushes  we  heard  groans  of  a  native, 
and  on  making  our  way  into  the  thicket  found  a  man 
dying  of  smallpox.  We  longed  to  help  him,  but  there 
was  nothing  we  could  do,  and  our  head  man  hurried 
us  away,  fearing  we  ourselves  might  catch  the  dis- 
ease. 


MATADI  AND  STANLEY  POOL.  27 

NEARING  THE  A.  B.  M.  U. — The  fifth  day  of  our 
tramp  brought  us  to  M'Banza  Manteka,  a  mission 
station  of  the  American  Baptist  Union.  How  glad 
we  were  to  see  foreigners  again.  We  were  received 
kindly  by  the  missionaries,  who  asked  for  American 
news  and  told  us  many  profitable  things  about  Con- 
go, its  customs,  climate,  etc.,  and  how  they  had  with 
great  difficulty  and  danger  built  the  station;  how 
they  learned  the  native  language,  translated  hymns 
and  the  Scriptures ;  of  their  elephant  hunts  and  leop- 
ard scares ;  and  how  a  big  leopard  with  a  hog  in  his 
mouth  had  jumped  a  six-foot  pen.  They  talked  of 
trials  and  triumphs  till  the  night  was  far  spent. 

In  the  morning  we  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  a 
neat,  large  galvanized  iron  church.  This  building 
was  given  by  Eh*.  Gordon's  Church  of  Boston,  Mass., 
and  shipped  to  Africa  in  sections.  The  Christians 
of  the  neighborhood  banded  themselves  together  en 
masse,  walked  five  days'  journey  to  Matadi,  and  on 
their  heads  and  shoulders  through  the  rocky  trail 
brought  237  loads,  equal  to  six  tons,  which  would 
cost  the  mission  $1,000.00.  The  Christian  women 
who  could  not  go  paid  men  to  bring  up  their  part. 
Some  of  the  women  who  had  but  little  money  gath- 
ered their  garden  stuff,  accompanied  the  men,  feed- 
ing and  cheering  them  on  their  way. 

The  church  here  has  400  Christian  men  and  wo- 
men, and  we  are  told  that  they  preach  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  beautifully  in  their  lives. 

We  saw  the  collection  baskets,  one  at  the  entrance 
of  each  door.  They  were  the  size  of  big  clothes  bask- 


28  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

ets.  The  missionaries  told  us  that  every  Sunday 
these  baskets  are  filled  by  the  Christians  with 
strings  of  blue  beads,  their  money. 

OUR  FIRST  CONGO  SERVICE. — The  missionaries  had 
supplied  us  with  a  "Ki-Kongo"  Testament  and  a  na- 
tive hymn  book.  We  pitched  our  tent  near  a  beautiful 
cool  stream.  At  nine  o'clock  the  dish  pan  (bell)  was 
beaten  and  the  caravan  assembled  for  divine  service. 
Mr.  Lapsley  read  Luke  2:1,  2  and  we  sang  "We're 
Marching  to  Zion."  One  of  our  carriers  offered 
prayer,  then  Mr.  Lapsley  and  I  followed  in  prayer  in 
English.  The  natives  sang  splendidly  and  heartily. 

OFF  FOR  LUKUNGA. — At  daybreak  Monday  morn- 
ing we  had  finished  our  breakfast  by  candle  light  and 
with  staff  in  hand  we  marched  northeast  for  Lu- 
kunga. 

In  two  days  we  sighted  the  Mission  Compound. 
Word  had  reached  the  missionaries  (A.  B.  M.  U.) 
that  foreigners  were  approaching,  and  they  came  out 
to  meet  and  greet  us.  We  were  soon  hurried  into 
their  cool  and  comfortable  mud  houses.  Our  faith- 
ful cook  was  dismissed,  for  we  were  to  take  our 
meals  with  the  missionaries. 

SCORPIONS  AND  SPIDERS. — Mr.  Hoste,  who  is  at  the 
head  of  this  station,  came  into  our  room  and  men- 
tioned that  the  numerous  spiders,  half  the  size  of 
your  hand,  on  the  walls  were  harmless.  "But,"  said 
he  as  he  raised  his  hand  and  pointed  to  a  hole  over 
the  door,  "there  is  a  nest  of  scorpions ;  you  must  be 
careful  in  moving  in  and  out,  for  they  will  spring 
upon  you." 


MATADI  AND  STANLEY  POOL.  29 

Well,  you  ought  to  have  seen  us  dodging  in  and  out 
that  door.  After  supper,  not  discrediting  the  veracity 
of  the  gentleman,  we  set  to  work,  and  for  an  hour  we 
spoiled  the  walls  by  smashing  spiders  with  slippers. 

A  BIG  BOA. — The  next  morning  the  mission  sta- 
tion was  excited  over  the  loss  of  their  only  donkey. 
The  donkey  had  been  feeding  in  the  field  and  a  boa- 
constrictor  had  captured  him,  squeezed  him  into 
pulp,  dragged  him  a  hundred  yards  down  to  the 
river  bank,  and  was  preparing  to  swallow  him.  The 
missionaries,  all  with  guns,,  took  aim  and  fired,  killing 
the  twenty-five-foot  boa-constrictor.  The  boa  was 
turned  over  to  the  natives  and  they  had  a  great  feast. 
The  missionaries  told  us  many  tales  about  how  the 
boa-constrictor  would  come  by  night  and  steal  away 
their  goats,  hogs  and  dogs. 

MINIATURE  FLEAS. — The  sand  around  Lukunga  is 
a  hot-bed  for  miniature  fleas,  or  "jiggers."  The  sec- 
ond day  of  our  stay  at  Lukunga  our  feet  had  swollen 
and  itched  terribly,  and  on  examination  we  found 
that  these  "jiggers"  had  entered  under  our  toe  nails 
and  had  grown  to  the  size  of  a  pea.  A  native  was 
called  and  with  a  small  sharpened  stick  they  were 
cut  out.  We  saw  natives  with  toes  and  fingers  eaten 
entirely  off  by  these  pests.  Mr.  Hoste  told  us  to  keep 
our  toes  well  greased  with  palm  oil.  We  followed  his 
instructions,  but  grease  with  sand  and  sun  made  our 
socks  rather  "heavy." 

A  LIVE  CHURCH. — The  native  church  here  is  very 
strong  spiritually.  The  church  bell,  a  real  big  brass 
hell,  begins  to  ring  at  8  A.  M.,  and  continues  for  an 


30  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

hour.  The  natives  in  the  neighborhood  come  teem- 
ing by  every  trail,  take  their  seats  quietly,  and  listen 
attentively  to  the  preaching  of  God's  word.  No  ex- 
citement, no  shouting,  but  an  intelligent  interest 
shown  by  looking  and  listening  from  start  to  finish. 

In  the  evening  you  can  hear  from  every  quarter 
our  hymns  sung  by  the  natives  in  their  language. 
They  are  having  their  family  devotions  before  re- 
tiring. 

We  are  told  that  many  evangelists  had  been  educa- 
ted on  the  spot  and  sent  out  into  the  country  to  tell 
their  brothers  the  story  of  Jesus  and  his  love. 

OFF  FOR  STANLEY  POOL. — After  a  very  pleasant 
and  profitable  stay  at  Lukunga  we  continued  our 
march  toward  Stanley  Pool.  Our  cook  smiled — he 
was  re-instated. 

"CROCKS"  IN  THE  N'KisSY. — Our  second  day's 
march  brought  us  to  a  large  river.  Our  loads  and 
men  were  ferried  over  in  canoes.  Mr.  Lapsley  and 
I  decided  to  swim  it,  and  so  we  jumped  in  and  struck 
out  for  the  opposite  shore.  On  landing  we  were  told 
by  a  native  watchman  that  we  had  done  a  very  dar- 
ing thing.  He  explained  with  much  excitement  and 
many  gestures  that  the  river  was  filled  with  croco- 
diles, and  that  he  did  not  expect  to  see  us  land  alive 
on  his  side.  We  camped  on  the  top  of  the  hill  over- 
looking N'Kissy  and  the  wild,  rushing  Congo  Rap- 
ids. It  was  in  one  of  these  whirlpools  that  young 
Pocock,  Stanley's  last  survivor,  perished. 

A  NATIVE  MARKET. — The  next  day  we  were  up  and 
off  at  an  early  hour.  After  about  ten  hours'  march 


MATADI  AND  STANLEY  POOL  31 

we  saw  in  the  distance  a  great  number  of  people  and 
heard  their  loud  talking.  We  were  told  that  it  was 
a  native  market.  We  had  already  noticed  that  our 
men  had  an  extra  move  on  them.  We  arrived  in  the 
market  and  took  shelter  under  a  large  tree.  Our 
men  soon  put  down  their  loads  and  joined  in  the 
noisy  crowd.  In  a  little  while  we  lost  sight  of  our 
carriers,  for  all  the  market  men  looked  alike  to  us. 

A  number  of  women  had  their  faces,  hair  and  loin 
cloths  smeared  over  with  a  black  preparation  which 
trickled  all  down  their  legs.  On  inquiry  we  were  told 
that  it  was  a  tar  made  from  burned  peanuts,  palm 
oil  and  palm  nuts.  It  was  their  mode  of  mourning 
for  the  deceased.  The  babies  which  were  tied  to 
their  backs  and  exposed  to  the  hot  sun  were  well 
tarred  also.  There  were  hogs,  dogs,  ducks,  goats, 
sheep,  rats,  bats,  chickens  and  caterpillars  in  num- 
bers and  abundance.  Monkeys,  parrots,  peanuts, 
beans,  fresh  and  dried,  fish,  pineapples,  bananas, 
clay  pots  and  pipes  for  sale.  We  saw  piles  of  native 
bread  made  from  the  roots  of  manioc.  This  bread 
was  round  like  a  man's  head,  wrapped  in  greased 
banana  leaves,  weighing  about  five  pounds.  In  ap- 
pearance and  eating  it  is  like  putty. 

It  was  impossible  to  get  our  carriers  together,  and 
so  we  were  compelled  to  camp  at  the  market  place 
for  the  night,  and  such  eating !  They  had  turned  the 
whole  plateau  into  a  cooking  plant.  Our  men  being 
well  supplied  with  food  made  splendid  marches  the 
last  two  days. 

ARRIVING  AT  STANLEY  POOL.— A  broad  road  led  to 


32  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

tfte  entrance  of  the  settlement.  The  missionaries 
being  notified  came  on  the  way  and  welcomed  us  to 
their  African  homes. 

We  met  Dr.  Aaron  Sims  and  Mr.  Reign,  of  the 
American  Baptist  Union ;  Rev.  Roger  and  Rev.  Gor- 
don, of  the  English  Baptist  Missionary  Society ;  Rev. 
and  Mrs.  McKittrick,  of  the  Congo  Bololo  Mission; 
and  Dr.  Harrison,  of  the  American  Methodist  Mis- 
sion. 

THE  POOL. — As  we  sat  in  the  mission  house  there 
was  a  beautiful  expanse  of  water  before  us  (Stanley 
Pool),  twenty-five  miles  long  and  about  nine  miles 
broad,  dotted  here  and  there  with  large,  grassy  is- 
lands. 

Within  a  hundred  yards  of  the  mission  station  was 
also  a  native  village,  the  Bateke  people,  of  a  thou- 
sand inhabitants.  The  Bateke  is  a  tribe  of  the  Bantu 
race,  tall,  slight,  and  apparently  not  very  strong. 
Their  chief  occupation  is  trading.  The  up-river  peo- 
ple, who  are  great  elephant  hunters,  come  in  big 
canoes  to  Stanley  Pool  with  ivory,  gum,  copal,  and 
cam  wood.  They  sell  to  the  Bateke  people,  and  in 
turn  the  Bateke  trade  to  foreigners  living  near  the 
coast. 

The  frame  work  of  their  houses  is  made  of  split 
bamboo  with  long  dried  grass  tied  on  for  roof  and 
walls.  They  are  about  fifteen  feet  long  and  seven 
feet  broad,  oval  shaped,  and  entered  by  a  sliding 
door  three  feet  high. 

Visiting  through  the  village,  we  were  introduced 
to  Chief  N'Galiama,  who  entertained  us  by  showing 


«    0    t    w    i    w    C 

r    cj  «  oj  si  3  * 


~  S55S5      fi^S  » 

SS^-  =  =  ==•*•- 


w- 

EH 

^s 


MATADI  AND  STANLEY  POOL  33 

some  of  his  presents  given  him  by  foreigners — china 
plates,  cups,  knives,  spoons,  hats,  caps,  beads,  etc. 
He  showed  also  a  white  handkerchief  with  W.  M. 
Stanley's  name  on  it.  We  asked  the  old  chief  to  give 
it  to  us,  but  he  refused ;  then  we  tried  to  buy  it,  but 
he  would  not  part  with  the  handkerchief  of  the  great 
explorer.  The  religious  work  with  these  people  was 
not  very  hopeful.  They  were  reserved,  hard  to 
reach,  and  clung  to  their  idols  of  wood. 

MR.  LAPSLEY  LEAVES  FOR  BOLOBO. — After  eleven 
days'  stay  at  Stanley  Pool,  Mr.  Lapsley  left  for  Bolo- 
bo,  a  mission  station  of  the  Baptist  Missionary  So- 
ciety, five  days'  steaming  up  the  Congo  river,  to 
elicit  information  from  Rev.  George  Grenfell,  a  mis- 
sionary and  explorer. 

MY  FIRST  HIPPOPOTAMUS. — In  the  Pool  we  saw 
many  happopotami,  and  longed  to  go  out  in  a  canoe 
and  shoot  one,  but  being  warned  of  the  danger  from 
hippopotami  and  also  of  the  treacherous  current  of 
the  Congo  river,  which  might  take  us  over  the  rapids 
and  to  death,  we  were  afraid  to  venture.  A  native 
Bateke  fisherman,  just  a  few  days  before  our  ar- 
rival, had  been  crushed  in  his  canoe  by  a  bull-hip- 
popotamus. Many  stories  of  hippopatami  horrors 
were  told  us. 

One  day  Chief  N'Galiama  with  his  attendant  came 
to  the  mission  and  told  Dr.  Simms  that  the  people 
of  the  village  were  very  hungry  and  to  see  if  it  were 
possible  for  him  to  get  some  meat  to  eat. 

Dr.  Simms  called  me  and  explained  how  the  peo- 
ple were  on  the  verge  of  a  famine  and  if  I  could  kill 


34 


them  a  hippopotamus  it  would  help  greatly.  He 
continued  to  explain  that  the  meat  and  hide  would  be 
dried  by  the  people  and,  using  but  a  little  at  ea''h 
meal,  would  last  them  a  long  time.  Dr.  Simms  men- 
tioned that  he  had  never  hunted,  but  he  knew  where 
the  game  was.  He  said,  "I  will  give  you  a  native 
guide,  you  go  with  him  around  the  first  cataract 
about  two  miles  from  here  and  you  will  find  the 
hippopotami."  I  was  delighted  at  the  idea,  and  be- 
ing anxious  to  use  my  "Marteni  Henry"  rifle  and  to 
help  the  hungry  people,  I  consented  to  go.  In  an 
hour  and  a  half  we  had  walked  around  the  rapids 
across  the  big  boulders,  and  right  before  us  were  at 
least  a  dozen  big  hippopotami.  Some  were  fright- 
ened, ducked  their  heads  and  made  off;  others 
showed  signs  of  fight  and  defiance. 

At  about  fifty  yards  distant  I  raised  my  rifle  and 
let  fly  at  one  of  the  exposed  heads.  My  guide  told 
me  that  the  hippopotamus  was  shot  and  killed.  In 
a  few  minutes  another  head  appeared  above  the  sur- 
face of  the  water  and  again  taking  aim  I  fired  with 
the  same  result.  The  guide,  who  was  a  subject  of 
the  Chief  N'Galiama,  sprung  upon  a  big  boulder  and 
cried  to  me  to  look  at  the  big  bubbles  which  were  ap- 
pearing on  the  water;  then  explained  in  detail  that 
the  hippopotami  had  drowned  and  would  rise  to  the 
top  of  the  water  within  an  hour.  The  guide  asked 
to  go  to  a  fishing  camp  nearby  and  call  some  men  to 
secure  the  hippopotami  when  they  rose,  or  else  they 
would  go  out  with  the  current  and  over  the  rapids. 
In  a  very  short  time  about  fifty  men,  bringing  native 


MATADI  AND  STANLEY  POOL.  35 

rope  with  them,  were  on  the  scene  and  truly,  as  the 
guide  had  said,  up  came  the  first  hippopotamus,  his 
big  back  showing  first.  A  number  of  the  men  were 
off  swimming  with  the  long  rope  which  was  tied  to 
the  hippopotamus'  foot.  A  signal  was  given  and  ev- 
ery man  did  his  best.  No  sooner  had  we  secured  the 
one  near  shore  than  there  was  a  wild  shout  to  untie 
and  hasten  for  the  other.  These  two  were  securely 
tied  by  their  feet  and  big  boulders  were  rolled  on 
the  rope  to  keep  them  from  drifting  out  into  the  cur- 
rent. 

The  short  tails  of  both  of  them  were  cut  off  and  we 
started  home.  We  reported  to  Dr.  Simms  that  we 
had  about  four  or  five  tons  of  meat  down  on  the 
river  bank.  The  native  town  ran  wild  with  delight. 
Many  natives  came  to  examine  my  gun  which  had 
sent  the  big  bullets  crashing  through  the  brain  of 
the  hippopotami.  Early  the  next  morning  N'Galia- 
ma  sent  his  son  Nzelie  with  a  long  caravan  of  men  to 
complete  the  work.  They  leaped  upon  the  backs  of 
the  hippopotami,  wrestled  with  each  other  for  a 
while,  and  then  with  knives  and  axes  fell  to  work. 
The  missionaries  enjoyed  a  hippopotamus  steak  that 
day  also. 

HUNTING  HIPPOPOTAMI  AROUND  STANLEY  POOL. — 
Hunting,  though  a  pleasant  and  profitable  pastime 
and  a  splendid  way  in  which  to  pick  up  the  native 
language,  is  an  exceedingly  dangerous  o^e.  One  day 
the  Bateke  natives  came  running  all  excited  saying 
that  there  was  a  big  female  hippo  feeding  on  a  small 
grassy  island  not  five  hundred  yards  from  the  Mia- 


36  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

sion  Compound.  Dr.  Simms  called  out,  "Get  your 
gun,  go  quickly,  there  is  a  hippo  on  the  island." 

Six  men  were  in  readiness  with  paddles  in  hand 
and  as  soon  as  I  had  stepped  in  the  canoe  off  they 
pulled  at  full  speed.  In  a  few  minutes  we  were 
alongside  the  island  under  cover  of  the  long  grass. 
The  wise  hippo  scented  us  and  started  for  the  water, 
but  with  the  crack  of  my  rifle  she  fell  in  her  tracks, 
killed  instantly.  A  great  shout  came  from  the  crowd 
of  men,  women  and  children  on  the  beach. 

In  an  hour's  time  with  a  score  of  men  the  hippo 
had  been  cut  up  and  transported  to  the  main  shore. 
More  than  a  ton  of  meat  was  sold  to  the  hundreds  of 
natives  and  given  to  the  chiefs. 

BANQUA'S  SPIRIT. — With  two  large  canoes  and 
fourteen  men  pulling  against  a  current  we  were  soon 
at  a  point  sixteen  miles  from  the  mission.  Our  ca- 
noes were  dragged  up  on  the  sand  and  the  natives 
told  me  to  follow  them.  We  made  our  way  with 
great  difficulty  through  the  high  grass  and  reached 
a  small  lake  in  the  center  of  the  island.  There  were 
six  hippopotami  in  the  lake.  One  of  them,  a  very 
large  bull  hippo,  bowed  his  neck,  grunted  in  a  deep 
bass  voice,  and  came  rushing  toward  the  bank.  The 
natives  quickly  surrounded  me,  explaining  that  the 
spirit  of  one  of  the  chiefs,  named  Banqua,  dwelt  in 
that  hippo  and  not  to  shoot  it.  They  said,  "If  that 
hippo  is  killed  our  chief  will  also  die,  and  we  will 
have  plenty  of  trouble  with  our  town  when  we  re- 
turn." 


MATADI  AND  STANLEY  POOL  ST 

I  gave  attention  to  their  superstition  and  waited 
for  them  to  point  out  the  proper  one.  In  a  few  min- 
utes the  hippopotami  reappeared  on  the  surface  of 
the  water.  The  bull  remained  within  ten  yards  of 
us,  bellowing  at  the  top  of  his  voice.  The  natives 
pointed  out  a  dark  brown  female  about  fifty  yards 
away.  I  raised  my  rifle  and  the  bullet  entered  the 
head  of  the  hippo  just  under  the  ear,  and  she  sank 
slowly  and  quietly  to  the  bottom  of  the  lake. 

The  natives  soon  had  the  grass  cleared,  a  fire  burn- 
ing, and  their  sharp  knives  in  readiness  for  a  feast. 

While  waiting  for  our  hippo  to  rise  we  waded 
through  the  grass  and  marsh  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  and 
there  to  our  great  surprise,  not  more  than  forty 
yards  away,  stood  an  elephant  quietly  grazing.  We 
stopped  and  gazed  at  the  monster.  I  thought  of  the 
quantity  of  meat  which  we  had  already  secured,  and 
retraced  our  steps  to  the  lake.  The  natives  were 
very  much  exercised  over  my  not  shooting  the  ele- 
phant. I  told  them  it  was  not  right  to  kill  simply  to 
be  killing,  and  as  we  have  no  steamboat  to  carry  the 
meat  away,  it  would  lie  here  in  the  sun  and  decay. 

By  this  time  our  hippo  had  floated  and  I  called  to 
the  men  to  take  the  rope,  swim  and  tie  it  to  the  nose 
and  we  would  pull  it  near  the  shore.  Not  a  man 
moved,  though  they  were  all  good  swimmers. 

One  of  the  men  explained  that  the  lake  was  filled 
with  crocodiles. 

I  said  to  him,  "You  do  not  see  a  crocodile  in  the 
whole  lake.  You  men  are  too  timid,  you  are  afraid 
of  a  dead  hippo," 


88  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

I  pressed  upon  two  of  the  men  as  strongly  as  pos- 
sible to  take  the  rope  and  swim  away. 

One  of  the  natives  politely  asked  if  people  in  the 
foreign  country  could  swim.  "Yes,"  I  replied,  "and 
they  are  good  swimmers,  too;  and  if  you  won't  go 
after  that  hippo,  I  will." 

But  another  said,  "Don't  go,  the  wind  will  blow  it 
to  shore." 

Taking  the  rope  and  putting  the  loop  on  my  arm  i 
jumped  in  and  swam  to  the  hippo.  As  I  began  to  tie 
the  rope  around  her  nose  up  came  a  monster  croco- 
dile and  made  a  terrible  lunge  at  her  neck.  Not  a 
moment  did  I  tarry  to  see  what  effect  his  sharp  teeth 
had  on  the  hippo,  but  turned  the  rope  loose  and  un- 
der the  water  I  went,  and  was  half  way  to  shore 
when  I  came  up.  The  natives  were  very  much  ex- 
cited and  assisted  me  in  landing.  I  begged  their 
pardon  and  was  ashamed  of  my  bravery. 

Many  times  in  Central  Africa  foreigners  get  into 
serious  difficulties  from  which  they  cannot  extricate 
themselves  by  disregarding  the  advice  of  natives. 

Sure  enough  by  3  P.  M.  our  hippo,  having  been 
blown  by  the  gentle  breeze,  was  lying  alongside  the 
shore.  There  were  any  number  of  crocodile  heads 
in  sight  and  several  very  near  the  hippo,  sniffing  the 
blood.  After  cutting  off  a  good,  substantial  steak, 
we  enjoyed  a  hearty  supper  and  retired  for  the  night 
under  a  beautiful  moonlit  sky. 

At  6  o'clock  in  the  morning  we  began  cutting  up 
our  hippo  and  by  12  o'clock  we  were  loaded  and  un- 
der way  on  our  return  journey.  The  men  sang  and 


MATADI  AND  STANLEY  POOL  89 

paddled  and  were  happy  until  the  wind  rose  and  the 
waves  of  the  Congo  threatened  to  swamp  us.  Then 
they  began  to  call  upon  their  idols  to  save  them.  We 
rounded  "Gallina  Point,"  one  of  the  most  dangerous 
places  on  the  river,  our  canoes  going  at  full  speed 
with  the  strong  current,  and  early  the  same  after- 
noon we  landed  at  the  mission,  disposed  of  our  cargo, 
and  sat  down  to  think  and  talk  of  our  adventure. 

THROUGH  THE  CATARACTS. — Before  many  days 
had  elapsed,  there  was  a  call  to  shoot  another  hip- 
popotamus which  was  about  600  yards  direct  out 
from  the  mission  just  above  the  first  cataract. 

In  a  few  minutes  the  native  men  were  ready.  One 
canoe  glided  along  swiftly,  keeping  the  hippo  to  the 
left  of  us.  It  disappeared  several  times  under  the 
water,  but  at  last,  excited  by  our  challenge,  he  start- 
ed for  the  canoe,  and  within  twenty  yards  of  us  he 
received  the  bullet  in  the  forehead  and  down  he  sank. 
We  returned  to  the  beach  and  in  an  hour  he  rose  to 
the  surface  of  the  water. 

We  were  off  again,  the  men  plying  their  paddles 
with  power.  When  the  floating  monster  was  reach- 
ed, we  succeeding  in  tying  him  by  the  nose  with  a 
short  rope,  which  was  also  tied  to  the  canoe. 

All  ready,  we  started  with  all  our  strength  towing 
our  cargo,  but  it  was  useless;  the  current  was  too 
strong  and  we  had  drifted  too  near  the  rapids. 

I  pulled  a  knife  from  my  belt,  cut  the  rope,  and  di- 
rected the  men  to  turn  the  bow  of  the  canoe  towards 
the  rapids.  With  strong  arm  and  steady  nervei 


40  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

those  men  guided  the  canoe  through  the  dashing 
waves  to  a  bay  of  safety  below. 

The  hippo  was  found  the  next  day  washed  upon 
the  sand  by  a  strong  back  current. 

To  THE  RESCUE  OF  MR.  ROGERS. — I  was  invited  by 
Rev.  Rogers  to  take  another  hunt  with  him  for 
hippopotami  in  the  Pool.  Mr.  Rogers  with  his  canoe 
led  the  way.  At  noon  we  landed  on  a  sandbank  and 
prepared  dinner  from  a  wild  duck  shot  on  the  way. 
After  dinner  it  was  suggested  that  we  cross  the 
Congo  to  the  north  bank.  My  canoe  led  the  way. 
When  half  way  across  the  river  my  men  called  out 
excitedly,  "Nguba  kuvanda  Mundele"  (a  hippo  is 
killing  the  white  man.  I  called  out,  "Vutuka!" 
(Return),  and  in  an  instant  my  canoe  was  right 
about  and  under  way.  All  the  paddlers  from  Mr. 
Rogers'  canoe  had  jumped  out  and  were  swimming 
toward  shore.  As  the  great  brute  rushed  to  crush 
the  canoe  I  let  fly,  shooting  him  through  the  brain. 
We  pulled  alongside  of  the  missionary's  canoe  and 
towed  him  into  shore. 

In  an  hour's  time  we  had  landed  our  hippo  and 
were  busy  cutting  him  up.  We  returned  the  same 
afternoon  to  the  mission. 

Around  Stanley  Pool  within  a  short  time  we  had 
killed  thirty-six  hippopotami.  The  proceeds  from 
these  hunts  we  used  toward  helping  to  defray  our 
expenses  while  we  were  delayed  at  Stanley  Pool. 


Congo  Corn  and  Mill. 


CHAPTER  III. 
THE  KWANGO  EXPEDITION. 

HUNTING  PORTERS  FOR  THE  KASAI-KWANGO  EXPE- 
DITION.— Not  being  able  to  hire  carriers  at  Stanley 
Pool,  it  was  necessary  to  take  a  journey  140  miles 
into  the  cataract  region  to  find  men.  I  made  the 
journey,  secured  twenty-five  men,  and  returned  to 
Stanley  Pool. 

MR.  LAPSLEY'S  RETURN  FROM  BOLOBO. — I  reached 
Stanley  Pool  on  the  25th  of  October  and  found  Mr. 
Lapsley  in  good  health  and  fine  spirits.  He  had  en- 
joyed his  up-river  trip  and  received  much  help  and 
information  from  the  kind  missionaries  of  the  Bap- 
tist Missionary  Society. 

We  had  a  talk  with  the  twenty-five  men  about  our 
plans  to  take  an  overland  journey  to  Kinkunji.  We 
told  them  that  we  were  prospecting  for  a  new  Mis- 
sion Society  (The  Southern  Presbyterian).  The 
men  listened  attentively,  but  when  dawn  broke  there 
was  not  a  man  of  them  to  be  found.  They  had  heard 
of  the  hostility  of  the  Kwango  people  and  so  decided 
to  return  to  their  own  homes. 

MR.  LAPSLEY  GETS  A  FRESH  SET  OF  MEN. — On  Oc- 
tober 28th  Mr.  Lapsley  started  down  country  in 
search  of  fresh  men  for  our  Kinkunji  journey.  By 
December  3rd  he  had  collected  the  necessary  men 
and  returned  to  UB  at  Stanley  Pool. 

41 


42  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

DECIDE  ON  RIVER  JOURNEY. — We  had  prayer  for 
the  Master's  guidance,  and  after  talking  over  our 
plans  thoroughly  we  decided  to  take  our  journey  by 
water  and  not  overland. 

RENTING  A  CANOE. — For  our  journey  a  canoe  was 
needed,  and  I  was  detailed  to  hire  a  large  one  from 
N'Guba,  a  Bateke  chief.  I  succeeded  in  getting  a 
large,  strong  canoe  by  promising  its  return  with  not 
less  than  a  hundred  pounds  of  dried  hippo  meat  as 
pay. 

READY  FOR  THE  JOURNEY. — On  December  llth  our 
canoe  was  lashed  alongside  the  S.  S.  Henry  Reed. 
Mr.  Billington,  an  A.  B.  M.  U.  missionary  and  cap- 
tain of  the  steamer,  kindly  consented  to  tow  us  on 
our  journey  as  far  as  he  went. 

In  the  canoe  was  placed  our  tent,  camp  beds, 
cooking  utensils,  some  clothing,  our  guns,  and  barter 
goods  of  white  domestic,  beads  and  brass  wire.  At 
the  bow  of  the  canoe  we  tied  "Tippotib,"  a  black 
Stanley  Falls  monkey.  In  a  few  hours  Stanley  Pool 
with  its  white-washed  Mission  Compound  was  left 
far  behind  us. 

WE  PURCHASE  A  BIG  CANOE. — On  December  16th 
we  put  into  a  village  near  the  confluence  of  the  Ka- 
sai  with  the  Congo  river.  The  villagers,  Bayansie, 
were  not  hostile,  but  received  us  kindly.  We  saw  a 
beautiful  canoe  which  could  easily  hold  fifteen  or 
more  paddlers.  We  needed  that  canoe,  and  in  less 
than  an  hour's  time  we  had  bought  it  and  hired  more 
men  for  our  river  journey. 

FAREWELL  TO  THE  S.S.  HENRY  REED.— Saying 


THE  KWANGO  EXPEDITION  48 

good-bye  to  the  missionaries,  we  started  on  our  jour- 
ney via  the  Kasai  river.  The  men  had  a  stiff  pull  In 
the  strong  current  when  turning  out  of  the  Congo 
into  the  Kasai. 

CHRISTMAS  IN  CENTRAL  AFRICA. — December  25th, 
1891,  Christmas  morning  we  started  early  on  our 
journey.  Crossing  to  the  left  bank,  where  a  number 
of  canoes  were  moored  under  some  shade  trees,  we 
discovered  a  trail.  Making  our  canoe  fast,  we  fol- 
lowed the  trail  through  the  forest  and  came  upon  a 
fortified  village.  After  much  parley  with  the  villag- 
ers the  gate  was  opened  and  we  entered.  We  were 
glad  to  buy  fresh  buffalo  meat  and  eggs,  giving  in 
exchange  beads.  We  then  returned  to  our  canoes. 
During  the  day  a  guinea  fowl,  an  eagle,  and  a  very 
large  red  monkey  were  killed.  At  nightfall  we 
camped  near  a  village.  The  people  were  friendly 
and  were  much  interested  in  the  preparation  of  our 
feast  of  eagle,  fowl  and  monkey. 

After  supper  we  had  our  usual  nightly  devotions, 
the  crew  and  villagers  being  present. 

MR.  LAPSLEY'S  BIG  HIPPO.— The  following  day  Mr. 
Lapsley  shot  a  wild  pigeon,  a  duck  and  a  hippopota- 
mus, and  the  whole  night  was  spent  in  drying  hippo 
meat  over  a  big  fire. 

THE  FIRST  SERMON  IN  THE  KASAI.— December  28 
being  Sunday,  we  spent  it  quietly  in  the  forest  near 
the  river  bank.  Mr.  Lapsley  had  charge  of  the  ser- 
vices. His  was  the  first  known  sermon  ever  preach- 
ed and  the  first  hymn  ever  sung  in  that  great  Kasai 
valley. 


44  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

WELCOME  BY  QUEEN  N'GANKABE. — On  Monday 
we  made  a  good  run.  In  the  afternoon  Mr.  Lapsley 
was  taken  down  with  fever.  We  put  into  a  village 
and  found  it  to  be  a  large  one.  A  few  men  came  to 
the  river  bank.  We  spoke  to  them  and  one  of  them 
ran  back  to  the  village  and  told  the  news  of  foreign- 
ers near.  In  a  few  minutes  a  tall,  broad-shouldered, 
bronze  colored,  well  featured  woman  came  walking 
slowly  down  the  path  accompanied  by  a  number  of 
other  women.  As  I  put  forth  my  hand  to  greet  her 
she  told  me  her  name  was  "Ngankabe." 

I  explained  that  there  was  a  white  man  in  the 
canoe  sick.  She  at  once  without  timidity  stepped 
into  the  canoe,  shook  hands  with  Mr.  Lapsley,  and 
invited  us  to  spend  the  night.  We  thanked  her  for 
her  hospitable  invitation,  though  we  could  not  stay. 

A  HOSTILE  TOWN. — Just  as  the  sun  was  setting  we 
put  into  a  town  to  camp  for  the  night.  The  villagers 
were  up  and  under  arms  in  a  moment's  notice.  The 
war  drum  beat,  the  women  screamed,  and  the  whole 
town  was  in  a  terrible  state  of  excitement.  Guns, 
spears,  bows  and  arrows  were  in  the  hands  of  the 
men,  who  were  rushing  in  our  direction.  I  stepped 
forward  quickly  and,  picking  up  some  beads  and 
calico  cloth,  held  them  aloft  and  pleaded  with  the 
men  not  to  shoot  but  let  us  land  for  the  night.  They 
brandished  their  spears,  pointed  their  guns  and 
called  to  us  to  leave  at  once  or  we  would  be  killed. 

With  all  my  pleading  and  offering  of  presents  they 
would  have  nothing  to  do  with  us.  They  only  called 
in  loud,  excited  voices,  "Yaka!  Yaka!"  (Go  away!  Go 


THE  KWANGO  EXPEDITION  45 

away!)  Seeing  that  our  situation  was  perilous,  I 
called  to  our  men  to  pull  on  their  paddles  and  direct- 
ed them  to  cross  the  river  for  the  other  side. 

Our  boatmen  were  much  excited  and  we  feared  for 
a  while  a  fight  between  them  and  the  villagers.  We 
quieted  our  men  and  urged  them  to  paddle  their  very 
best.  One  shot  was  fired  at  us,  but  missed  its  aim. 

The  river  was  more  than  a  mile  broad  and  dark- 
ness was  coming  on  fast,  so  we  landed  on  a  sand 
bank.  We  got  up  the  tent  and  Mr.  Lapsley  was  care- 
fully moved  into  his  bed.  A  fearful  Congo  storm 
swept  down  upon  us  that  night  and  it  was  with  great 
difficulty  that  we  kept  the  tent  and  canoes  from  being 
blown  away.  Mr.  Lapsley  had  taken  a  good  dose  of 
calomel  and  jalap  and  by  midnight  he  was  very 
much  better. 

All  night  we  could  hear  the  restless,  excited  na- 
tives on  the  other  side  of  the  river.  Early  next 
morning  we  secured  our  hippo  which  had  been  shot 
the  night  of  our  landing.  We  saw  natives  astride 
of  their  houses  calling  out  in  loud  voices.  Soon  a 
big  canoe  pulled  out  from  their  side  of  the  river 
filled  with  men.  Another  canoe  followed,  and  still 
another.  I  ran  into  the  tent  and  told  Mr.  Lapsley 
that  the  natives  who  ran  us  away  last  night  were 
coming.  We  were  not  sure  what  they  intended,  but 
to  be  on  the  safe  side  we  thought  to  offer  them  a 
part  of  our  hippo  meat.  Beckoning  to  them,  though 
they  were  coming  any  way,  and  pointing  to  the 
tempting  meat,  I  continued  with  uplifted  hands  and 
loud  calls,  and  before  we  could  realize  it  to  be  a  fact 


46  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

they  had  landed  their  canoes  on  the  sand  bank  and 
were  equally  excited  in  fussing  and  fighting  over  the 
gift. 

In  the  afternoon  Mr.  Lapsley  was  better  and  we 
were  able  to  continue  our  journey.  For  another 
week,  day  after  day,  we  made  our  way  up  the  great 
Kasai  river.  We  had  many  experiences  with  ele- 
phant, hippopotami,  and  buffalo,  with  natives  hos- 
tile and  friendly. 

When  about  200  miles  from  Stanley  Pool  we 
reached  the  Kwango  river.  Leaving  the  Kasai  to 
the  left,  we  turned  into  the  Kwango.  After  an 
hour's  pulling  we  came  to  a  very  large  village.  The 
people  were  timid  and  had  their  spears,  bows  and 
arrows.  As  we  pulled  slowly  to  the  landing  the  peo- 
ple rushed  back  from  the  beach,  some  of  them  run- 
ning behind  their  houses ;  but  with  our  many  smiles 
and  the  tricks  of  our  monkey,  "Tippotib,"  who  was 
playing  at  the  bow  of  the  first  canoe,  the  villagers 
were  attracted  and  came  nearer. 

We  landed,  bought  a  fine  bunch  of  sun  perch,  a 
basket  of  eggs,  and  had  dinner.  Later  we  with- 
drew to  an  island  and  camped  for  the  night. 

A  SIGHT  FOR  A  MISSION  STATION  OFFERED  Us. — 
Early  next  morning  the  chief  from  Boleke  and  his 
daughter  Antinobe,  accompanied  by  two  canoes  filled 
with  people,  came  to  see  us.  They  brought  us  chick- 
ens, fish  and  a  number  of  bunches  of  bananas  and 
pineapples. 

We  in  turn  gave  a  present  of  brass  wire,  beads, 
cloth  and  salt.  We  explained  to  the  chief  that  we 


THE  KWANGO  EXPEDITION  47 

were  journeying  to  Kinkunji,  hoping  to  see  a  good 
place  on  which  to  build  houses  and  live.  We  furth- 
er explained  that  our  work  was  to  teach  the  people 
about  God. 

Our  friends  seemed  to  get  some  idea  of  what  our 
business  was,  for  the  old  chief  offered  us  land  in  his 
own  town  and  said  he  would  charge  us  nothing  for 
it.  He  urged  us  strongly  to  live  with  them.  The 
next  day  hundreds  of  people  crowded  the  beach  and 
waved  us  good-bye! 

ONE  OF  OUR  MEN  is  CAPTURED. — When  we  were 
about  five  miles  from  our  last  camp  one  of  our  canoes 
was  swept  by  the  strong  current  under  a  low-lying 
limb  and  our  man  Mumpuya  was  knocked  overboard. 
He  swam  ashore  and  was  caught  by  the  natives  in 
the  jungle.  Hearing  his  screams  for  help  our  canoe 
was  quickly  ashore  and  we  were  out  and  to  the  res- 
cue. Through  the  high  grass  and  jungle  we  chased 
the  natives,  who  seemed  determined  to  carry  him 
off.  One  of  the  natives  raised  a  spear  to  throw,  but 
we  were  too  quick  for  him,  and  with  Mumpuya  we 
were  soon  again  in  our  canoes. 

Being  so  menaced  by  the  natives  following  us,  and 
growing  more  hostile  as  we  journeyed,  we  had  to 
cross  to  the  other  side  of  the  river,  and  in  one  of  the 
towns  we  had  many  things  stolen  from  us  during  the 
night  while  we  slept. 

No  PROPER  PLACE  FOR  A  MISSION  STATION. — 
Though  we  had  traveled  a  great  distance  in  the 
Kwango,  we  had  not  seen  a  really  suitable  place  for 
a  Mission  Station.  The  country  was  too  low  and 


48  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

swampy,  the  villages  small  and  far  apart.  They  had 
no  king,  but  were  governed  by  small  chiefs. 

THE  LAST  Two  OF  THE  LOST  FOURTEEN. — As  we 
rested  for  our  mid-day  lunch,  two  men,  much  ema- 
ciated and  almost  naked,  crawled  out  of  the  high 
grass  and  called  to  us  in  the  BaCongo  dialect.  We 
were  amazed. 

"Who  are  you?"  we  asked. 

They  explained  that  they  had  been  lost,  fourteen 
of  them,  from  a  steamer  on  the  Kasai  river. 

"Where  are  the  others?"  we  anxiously  asked. 

"They  have  been  killed  by  the  natives,"  was  the 
timid  reply. 

There  were  these  two  men  who  had  been  wander- 
ing for  weeks,  eating  roots  and  what  fruits  they 
could  get,  and  sleeping  in  the  grass  and  jungle, 
dodging  the  dangerous  BaDima  natives.  Happier 
persons  could  not  be  imagined  as  we  told  these  two 
lost  men  to  get  into  our  canoes. 

We  recrossed  the  river,  and  in  crossing  encoun- 
tered no  less  than  a  hundred  hippipotami.  They 
rushed  savagely  at  our  canoes  from  both  sides  and 
only  by  keeping  up  a  continuous  fire  from  our  rifles 
to  frighten  them  could  we  pass  in  safety. 

THE  IMPASSABLE  RAPIDS  OF  MWAMBA. — On  we 
journeyed,  day  after  day,  till  we  reached  the  im- 
passable Rapids  of  Mwamba.  We  spent  two  days 
looking  around  the  country  and  palavering  with  the 
chiefs  and  people.  Not  finding  a  suitable  place  for  a 
Mission  Station,  we  began  our  return  journey  to 
Stanley  Pool. 


Samuel  Norvell  Lapsley. 


Cannibal   Dance  in  the  Congo. 


Children  of  the  Pantops  Home,  Luebo. 


THE  KWANGO  EXPEDITION  49 

DESCENDING  THE  KWILU. — Our  natives  were  in 
the  best  of  spirits,  we  had  a  good  supply  of  dried 
buffalo  and  hippopotamus  meat,  bunches  of  bananas, 
plantains  and  pineapples.  Our  head  man  blew  sev- 
eral blasts  from  his  big  ivory  horn,  the  men  sang, 
and  plied  their  long  paddles  with  vigor  as  they  stood 
in  rows  on  either  side  of  the  big  canoes.  We  glided 
down  the  swift  river  like  young  steamers.  Our  first 
camping  place  was  where  the  Kwilu  emptied  into  the 
Kwango  river.  We  shot  a  hippo  and  secured  him 
at  once  as  he  fell  in  the  shallow  water.  We  next 
camped  at  the  confluence  of  the  Kwango  with  the 
Kasai  river.  As  soon  as  we  had  pitched  our  tent, 
half -clad  natives  came  around  with  bunches  of  fish 
to  barter  for  salt,  beads  and  brass  wire. 

We  left  our  camping  place  at  peep  of  day,  entered 
the  Kasai  river,  the  largest  tributary  of  the  Congo, 
and  pulled  at  full  speed  till  3  P.  M.  We  stopped  in 
an  island  for  a  hasty  lunch  and  continued  our  jour- 
ney, hoping  to  pass  the  hostile  village  of  Musye  at 
midnight  while  the  warriors  slept.  We  were  fortu- 
nate in  having  but  little  wind,  for  storms  on  these 
rivers  are  so  dangerous  that  steamers  must  seek  for 
shelter  and  tie  up  near  shore.  We  Kept  as  near  mid- 
stream as  possible.  All  was  quiet  save  the  bellowing 
of  a  bull  hippo  near  shore,  or  the  trumpeting  of  an 
elephant  on  the  plain.  We  had  some  misgivings  in 
passing  this  big  town,  Musye,  which  had  made  an 
attack  on  us  when  we  were  on  our  up-river  journey. 
Now  and  then  we  would  tell  our  men  to  paddle  quiet- 
ly and  keep  the  two  canoes  near  together. 


50  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO. 

CAUTIOUSLY  PASSING  MUSYE. — Even  with  all  our 
precautions  a  great  voice  called  across  the  water 
from  a  sand  bank  near  the  town : 

"Who  passes?"    (No  one  answered.) 

"Who  passes  ?"  came  to  us  again  in  angry  tones. 

We  thought  it  the  best  policy  to  answer,  so  our 
head  man,  Makwala,  answered:  "Friends  are  pass- 
ing, going  down  to  Stanley  Pool."  Again  all  was 
quiet.  When  we  were  certain  we  had  passed  the  five- 
mile  long  town  Musye,  our  men  strengthened  their 
arms  and  our  canoes  fairly  flew.  Another  camp 
brought  us  into  the  waters  of  the  great  Congo  river. 
We  crossed  to  the  right  bank  and  camped  just  above 
what  is  known  as  N'Ganches  Point. 

LIONS  ON  THE  RIGHT  BANK. — Our  men  informed 
us  that  there  were  lions  in  the  neighborhood,  so  we 
gathered  wood  from  the  forest  and  kept  a  roaring 
fire  all  night.  Consequently  we  had  no  visits  from 
these  intruders. 

STANLEY  POOL. — In  three  more  days  we  reached 
Stanley  Pool.  On  this  Kwango  expedition  we  had 
met  four  new  tribes,  had  seen  the  general  topogra- 
phy of  the  country,  knew  its  products  in  field,  forest 
and  river,  and  had  useful  information  and  experi- 
ences which  would  help  us  greatly  in  our  next  jour- 
ney. We  shot  elephants,  hippopotami,  monkeys, 
eagles,  ducks  and  other  game,  of  which  we  ate  much 
and  bartered  the  rest  to  the  natives. 

God  had  blessed  us  with  health  and  carried  us 
safely  through  many  dangers,  for  which  we  were 
more  grateful  than  we  could  possibly  express. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

EIGHT  HUNDRED  MILES  OF  PERIL. 

TURNING  OUR  FACES  TOWARD  THE  KASAI. — On 
March  17th  we  boarded  a  flat  bottomed  stern  wheeler 
wood  burning  steamer,  the  Florida.  After  many 
blasts  from  her  whistle,  the  crew,  thirty  native  men, 
pushed  her  from  the  beach  and  climbed  in  over  her 
sides. 

Captain  Galhier,  a  Belgian,  had  the  steamer  in 
charge.  Mr.  Sirex,  a  Dane,  was  the  engineer.  The 
engines,  boilers,  crew,  wood,  dining  room,  which 
was  used  as  cabin,  were  all  on  the  one  lower  deck. 
The  upper  deck  being  flat  and  weather  boarded  was 
used  for  ropes,  tools,  chicken  coop  and  a  small  pilot 
house.  The  Florida  steamed  very  well  and  we  tied 
up  late  that  afternoon  just  outside  the  Pool.  The 
crew  went  ashore  with  their  axes  and  from  the  for- 
est they  brought  dead  trees  and  cut  them  up  in 
lengths  of  two  feet  to  fire  the  engines  with  the  next 
day.  We  were  early  to  rest,  lying  on  the  benches  on 
either  side  of  the  dining  table. 

March  18th.  Steamed  today  only  seven  hours. 
Tied  up  at  the  bank  about  a  mile  from  a  native  vil- 
lage. The  captain  asked  me  to  take  the  steamer's 
canoe  and  some  of  the  men  and  drop  down  to  the  vil- 
lage and  buy  food  for  the  crew,  furnishing  the  money 
(brass  wire  the  size  of  telegraph  wire  and  cut  in 
one-foot  lengths) .  The  villagers  tried  to  catch  us  a 

61 


52  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

few  chickens,  but  did  not  succeed.  However,  we 
bought  a  bunch  of  plantains  and  a  bunch  of  bananas 
— not  enough  for  one  meal  for  the  crew.  On  return- 
ing to  the  steamer  a  tornado  swept  down  upon  us 
and  we  had  great  difficulty  in  saving  ourselves  and 
the  canoe. 

March  19th.  Last  night's  storm  had  driven  the 
steamer  hard  and  fast  on  the  bank  and  it  took 
two  hours  to  float  her  again.  The  current  was  very 
strong  all  day  and  the  wood,  being  wet,  we  made  but 
little  progress. 

March  20th.  Today  just  about  noon  a  sudden 
storm  broke  upon  us,  and  thunder  and  lightning  and 
rain  seemed  to  defy  our  reaching  the  beach.  Big 
waves  dashed  over  the  Florida's  deck  and  for  a  while 
we  were  in  peril.  The  captain  called  to  me  and 
asked  if  he  should  stop,  but  I  answered  quickly,  "No, 
captain,  never;  run  her  full  speed  on  the  shallow 
bank."  By  so  doing  she  stuck  fast  in  the  sand  while 
the  men  quickly  (and  I  assisted  them)  made  the 
chain  fast  around  a  near  tree.  When  the  storm  had 
passed  all  hands,  with  the  engines  going  full  speed 
astern,  pushed  her  off  and  we  continued  our  journey, 
reaching  the  Kasai  river  in  the  afternoon.  In  our 
devotions  that  night  we  thanked  the  Lord  for  bring- 
ing us  safely  through  another  day  of  dangers. 

March  21st.  The  captain  anticipated  trouble.  We 
could  see  the  red  waters  of  the  Kasai  running  into 
the  Congo  like  a  mill  race.  All  the  tributaries  of  the 
Kasai  valley  run  into  the  Kasai  river,  and  just  here 
at  its  mouth  the  Kasai  is  only  about  150  yards 


EIGHT  HUNDRED  MILES  OF  PERIL       68 

across,  with  a  great  wall  of  rocks  on  either  side. 
The  fire  bars  of  the  boiler  had  been  complained  of 
by  the  engineer,  who  was  unable  to  get  up  sufficient 
steam.  The  captain  called  me  to  the  wheel  house 
and  asked  that  I  take  the  wheel  while  he  directed 
the  course.  I  did  so  with  pleasure.  We  steamed  off, 
turned  the  nose  of  the  steamer  around  the  sharp 
point  and  into  the  strong  current  of  the  Kasai.  The 
captain  rang  his  bell  for  full  speed.  The  Florida 
did  her  best,  but  the  current  was  too  strong.  She 
quivered  under  the  strain  and  was  forced  backward 
to  the  point  from  which  she  had  started.  Again 
we  tried,  but  with  the  same  result.  The  whirlpools 
and  strong  current  seemed  too  much  for  the  Flori- 
da's strength.  Not  a  man  on  board  spoke  a  word; 
all  was  still  as  death.  The  engineer  was  doing  his 
best  at  firing.  The  captain  again  rang  for  full 
speed ;  we  steamed  for  an  hour,  making  only  a  half 
mile.  While  the  steamer  was  under  such  an  awful 
strain  the  rudder  chain  snapped  and  there  we  were 
in  that  awful  current  between  a  hill  of  stones  and  no 
rudder  chain.  I  called  out  to  the  captain  to  keep  her 
going,  and  then  ran  back  to  the  stern  of  the  boat,  got 
hold  of  the  iron  bar  which  governs  the  rudder,  and 
as  the  captain  signalled  to  me  with  his  hand,  guided 
her  safely  to  a  sand  spot  just  between  two  enormous 
boulders.  The  crew,  as  quickly  as  a  flash,  were  out 
with  the  anchor  and  made  her  fast.  It  was  with 
thankful  hearts  to  God  that  we  stepped  from  the 
steamer,  for  we  could  have  been  so  easily  dashed 
against  the  stones  and  to  the  bottom  of  the  river. 


54  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

The  steam  was  turned  off  and  the  captain  and  en- 
gineer held  a  parley  of  what  was  to  be  done.  The 
engineer  insisted  on  turning  back  for  Stanley  Pool, 
for,  as  he  explained,  the  fire  bars  are  all  burned  out 
and  the  steamer  is  very  old.  No,  said  the  captain,  it 
would  not  do  to  turn  back.  Let  the  boiler  cool  off 
and  repair  the  fire  bars  tomorrow. 

March  22nd,  Sunday.  All  day  the  bellows  and 
hammer  have  been  going  repairing  the  bent  and 
broken  fire  bars.  Mr.  Lapsley  and  I  spent  the  day 
in  devotion  and  reading. 

March  23rd.  Having  finished  the  repairs,  we 
made  an  early  start.  All  the  packing  cases  which 
could  be  found  were  broken  up  and  used  for  firing. 

In  five  hours  we  had  steamed  about  six  miles.  The 
river  broadened  and  the  current  was  not  so  strong. 
At  12  o'clock  we  put  into  a  village,  but  the  people 
were  frightened  and  ran  away,  so  we  were  unable  to 
buy  food  for  our  crew.  They  had  not  had  a  square 
meal  for  three  days.  At  2  o'clock  we  were  stopped 
by  a  storm.  When  the  storm  passed  we  hunted  for 
buffalo.  There  were  hundreds  of  tracks,  but  we  re- 
turned empty-handed. 

March  24th.  The  captain  asked  if  we  would  go  in 
the  canoe  and  shoot  something  for  the  men.  We 
went,  but  found  only  two  ducks.  A  native,  who  had 
also  killed  two  ducks,  pulled  his  canoe  alongside  of 
ours.  We  offered  to  buy  them  and  when  he  passed 
them  over  he  remarked  that  he  knew  our  faces  and 
that  we  had  given  him  hippo  meat  when  we  camped 
in  his  town  on  our  canoe  journey,  so  he  would  have 


EIGHT  HUNDRED  MILES  OF  PERIL.      55 

no  pay.  A  kind  act  brings  its  reward,  even  in  Cen- 
tral Africa. 

We  returned  to  the  steamer  with  four  ducks.  The 
Florida  continued  her  journey,  making  good  speed 
the  rest  of  the  day. 

March  25th.  We  were  detained  at  our  moorings, 
as  our  men  were  so  weak  from  hunger  they  could 
gather  but  little  wood  last  night.  They  are  in  a 
pitiable  condition  and  our  food  also  is  short.  The 
captain  said  this  evening  that  if  he  did  not  soon  get 
food  for  his  men  he  would  go  crazy. 

March  26th.  At  10  o'clock  we  sighted  a  village. 
We  steamed  in  and  made  fast  and  every  man  who 
could  pull  himself  along  went  ashore  and  began 
trade  for  food.  Chickens,  ducks,  hogs  and  a  num- 
ber of  dogs  were  bought;  also  bunches  of  plantains 
and  bananas.  Though  we  stopped  for  hours  it  was 
hard  to  get  the  crew  aboard  again.  After  getting 
under  way  the  captain  found  that  he  was  five  work- 
men short.  So  we  had  to  stop  again  and  send  the 
canoe  back  for  the  men. 

March  27th.  The  steamer  has  been  taking  a  rest 
today,  as  there  was  no  wood  to  fire  with.  Mr.  Laps- 
ley  has  an  additional  patient  on  his  hands.  I  took 
sick  early  this  morning  and  Mr.  Lapsley  almost  ex- 
hausted his  medicine  case,  but  the  ipecac,  dovers 
powders,  quinine,  calomel,  jalap,  and  a  few  other 
things  brought  me  around. 

March  28th.  The  men  have  not  eaten  all  their 
supply  of  hogs,  dogs  and  fruit,  so  no  one  has  cried 
for  food  today.  We  passed  a  village  and  attempted 


66  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

to  land,  but  the  natives  brandished  their  spears  and 
showed  a  bad  temper,  so  we  passed  on. 

March  29th,  Sunday.  The  steamer  made  a  splen- 
did run  and  we  tied  up  early  this  afternoon.  The 
beach  was  filled  with  natives  selling  dried  hippo 
meat,  fresh  fish  (Kasai  salmon),  chickens,  eggs,  na- 
tive bread,  bananas  and  pineapples,  and  wood  is  also 
plentiful.  Captain  tells  us  that  tomorrow  morning 
we  pass  through  the  famous  and  dangerous  Swin- 
burne Rapids. 

March  30th.  We  steamed  off  at  peep  of  day.  The 
captain,  Mr.  Lapsley  (the  ship's  doctor)  and  I  were 
on  the  bridge.  In  an  hour's  time  we  struck  the 
swiftly  running  current.  The  ship,  staggered 
careened  to  one  side  and  tried  it  again.  The  many 
whirlpools  shifted  her  from  side  to  side.  A  number 
of  times  the  water  ran  over  the  deck.  The  whole 
pass  is  a  succession  of  stony  reefs.  There  was  a 
deathlike  quietness  with  both  crew  and  passengers. 
Only  the  heart  throbs  of  the  engine  under  her  great 
strain  and  struggle  could  be  heard.  We  breathed  a 
sigh  of  relief  when  we  looked  back  and  saw  the 
rapids  running  wild  in  the  distance. 

Along  either  bank  there  are  miles  of  grassy  plains, 
and  we  passed  many  villages,  saw  scores  of  men  well 
armed  with  spears,  bows  and  arrows.  At  5  o'clock 
we  dropped  anchor  near  a  small  village.  The  peo- 
ple were  a  bit  timid,  the  women  and  children  taking 
refuge  in  the  high  grass,  but  the  men  continued 
their  carving  on  a  carcass  of  a  great  crocodile  by  the 
bank  of  the  river.  There  was  no  cutting  of  wood 


Prince  Maxamalinge  and  Wife. 


EIGHT  HUNDRED  MILES  OF  PERIL       57 

for  the  steamer  until  our  crew  had  their  portion  of 
crocodile  cutlets. 

March  31st.  Started  off  under  full  steam,  but  had 
not  gone  far  when  a  storm  swept  down  upon  us, 
driving  the  steamer,  which  could  not  be  controlled, 
right  into  the  big  trees  along  the  bank  and  over- 
hanging limbs  broke  the  cabin  in.  The  anchors 
were  thrown  over  and  held  fast. 

The  waves  drenched  everybody  and  everything. 
The  fierce  lightning  and  sharp  peals  of  thunder  ad- 
ded fresh  terror  to  the  situation.  When  the  storm 
had  abated  all  hands  helped  in  cutting  away  the 
limbs  of  the  trees  and  repairing  the  battered  cabin. 
The  anchors  were  pulled  up  and  we  started  off  again, 
but  we  had  not  gone  far  when  the  contrary  current 
drove  us  broadside  into  the  bank  and  the  trees, 
where  we  remained  all  night. 

April  1st.  We  made  a  good  half  day's  run  today, 
but  were  stopped  at  1:30  on  account  of  another 
heavy  tropical  storm. 

April  2nd.  Last  night  our  sleep  was  disturbed  by 
a  windstorm  which  threatened  to  break  the  chains 
and  ropes  of  the  anchors  and  put  us  adrift  in  the 
darkness  without  steam. 

April  3rd.  Today  we  stopped  at  a  large  village 
(about  500  inhabitants) .  The  villagers  were  calm 
and  received  us  kindly  and  our  crew  bought  plenty 
of  food.  The  captain  also  bought  bantam  chickens. 
They  seemed  to  be  everywhere  and  the  roosters 
crowed  in  the  same  language  as  an  American  fowl. 
In  the  afternoon  the  captain  sighted  hundreds  of 


68  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

wild  ducks  on  a  large,  sandy  island,  so  we  went 
ashore  and  shot  a  few.  There  were  aigrettes  flying 
around  at  close  range,  but  we  did  not  kill  them. 

The  temperature  at  4  P.  M.  stood  99  in  the  shade. 

April  4th.  "Mount  Pouggie"  hove  in  sight  early 
this  morning.  It  is  a  high  blue  ridge,  the  only  ap- 
proach to  a  mountain  in  this  region. 

A  village  near  the  water  refused  to  allow  us  to 
land.  The  captain  didn't  like  it,  so  he  blew  a  blast 
from  the  steamer's  whistle  and  those  warriors  fell 
over  each  other  getting  out  of  the  way. 

We  landed  at  another  village  and  found  the  people 
to  be  cannibals.  They  were  called  "Basonga  Meno," 
"Ba"  for  people,  "songa"  to  file,  and  "meno,"  teeth — 
the  "filed  teeth  people."  Their  teeth  were  all  filed  to 
a  sharp  point  and  their  faces  tattooed.  They  car- 
ried large  spears  and  quivers  of  poisonous  and  steel 
arrows.  Two  tiny  pieces  of  palm  fibre  cloth  was  all 
they  wore.  Many  of  them  brought  dogs  which  were 
bought  at  once  by  our  boatmen  for  food. 

April  5th,  Sunday.  The  passage  has  been  ex- 
ceedingly difficult  on  account  of  the  many  sand 
banks.  The  steamer  tied  up  early  near  a  village 
where  houses  are  different  from  others  we  have 
seen.  They  are  made  of  bamboo  about  nine  feet 
high.  The  door  is  reached  by  a  ladder,  which  at 
night  is  pulled  inside  and  the  door  shut  so  they  are 
safe  from  leopards. 

April  6th.  The  wood  being  very  wet,  the  engineer 
had  much  trouble  in  getting  up  steam  this  A.  M. 


EIGHT  HUNDRED  MILES  OF  PERIL       59 

There  are  not  many  sand  banks  and  the  water  is 
deep. 

We  are  sleeping  near  a  village  tonight  where  our 
crew  can  buy  a  good  supply  of  food.  The  people 
here  wear  copper  rings  on  their  wrists  and  necks,  so 
we  believe  there  must  be  a  copper  mine  somewhere 
back  in  the  hills.  Speaking  of  engagement  rings,  we 
have  seen  them  weighing  thirty  pounds  on  the  necks 
of  the  women. 

April  7th.  We  are  camping  in  a  creek,  a  tribu- 
tary of  the  Kasai.  The  captain  saw  a  storm  coming 
in  the  distance  and  ran  the  steamer  inside  for  pro- 
tection. 

April  8th.  The  steamer  ran  into  a  number  of 
snags,  but  without  damage.  We  saw  a  very  large 
herd  of  hippopotami  sunning  themselves  on  a  sand 
bank,  and  also  some  very  large  crocodiles  taking  a 
sun  bath  with  their  mouths  wide  open. 

April  9th.  One  of  the  steamer's  rudders  was 
bent,  and  the  steamer  had  to  be  lightened  to  be  re- 
paired. While  waiting  the  natives  brought  goats 
and  sheep  to  sell.  The  sheep  have  no  wool  on  them. 
Some  of  them  were  bought  and  we  had  much  noise 
from  the  bleating. 

The  country  is  thickly  populated  with  towns  from 
a  hundred  to  three  thousand  inhabitants.  The 
steamer  stopped  at  many  of  the  towns  and  bought 
wood  for  cowries  and  beads. 

April  10th.  The  rudders  gave  the  captain  much 
trouble  today,  and  so  we  were  compelled  to  camp  on 


60  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

a  small,  grassy  island  in  the  middle  of  the  river. 
There  was  no  storm  or  perhaps  we  should  have  been 
blown  to  pieces. 

April  llth.  We  saw  scores  of  large  black  mon- 
keys leaping  from  tree  to  tree,  and  droves  of  parrots 
flying  in  the  air  as  thick  as  blackbirds.  Certainly 
thousands  passed  over  us  during  the  day. 

April  12th.  On  both  banks  of  the  river  there  is  a 
dense  forest  of  mahogany,  ebony,  iron  wood,  ever- 
green and  palms.  The  natives  came  alongside  our 
steamer  today  and  sold  to  the  captain  and  crew 
about  fifty  pounds  of  fresh  fish  and  eels. 

We  have  seen  their  seines  a  hundred  feet  long. 
They  drag  for  the  fish  between  the  sand  banks. 
These  fish  are  dried  for  future  use.  The  streams  all 
abound  with  splendid  fish. 

April  13th.  Myriads  of  mosquitoes  kept  our  com- 
pany last  night.  Hippopotami  are  scarce  in  this  re- 
gion, but  there  are  birds  of  all  kinds — eagles,  hawks, 
crows,  ducks,  cranes,  parrots,  guinea  fowl,  quail, 
wild  pigeons,  bats,  and  many  birds  of  beautiful 
plumage.  There  are  plenty  of  elephant,  buffalo,  and 
antelope;  their  tracks  and  trails  are  all  along  the 
river  bank.  In  this  dense  and  impenetrable  forest 
there  must  be  everything  imaginable. 

April  14th.  At  12  today  we  cast  anchor  at  a 
large  town  and  bought  corn,  plantains,  bananas, 
beans,  peas,  peanuts,  dried  monkey  and  fish. 

April  15th.  By  a  special  Providence  we  were  de- 
livered from  a  watery  grave.  Four  different  times 


EIGHT  HUNDRED  MILES  OF  PERIL       61 

the  steamer  came  near  capsizing,  caused  by  strong 
currents  and  whirlpools.  The  Master  has  certainly 
been  good  to  us  and  has  led  us  step  by  step  safely. 

April  16th.  We  were  delayed  two  hours  by  the 
ship's  anchor  getting  hung  under  the  root  of  a  tree 
fifteen  feet  under  water.  Accompanied  by  a  native, 
I  went  down  the  chain  and  tried  to  get  the  anchor 
from  under  the  root,  but  it  was  not  possible.  One  of 
the  crew  tried  the  task  alone,  but  lost  his  hold  and 
was  washed  under  the  steamer  by  the  strong  cur- 
rent; but  we  saved  him  as  he  emerged  exhausted 
from  the  stern  of  the  steamer. 

All  hands  at  the  steamer's  windlass  finally  broke 
the  root.  After  three  hours'  steaming  another  strong 
current  caught  the  bow  of  the  boat  and  turned  her 
suddenly  around  like  a  cork  on  the  water.  At  3 
o'clock  we  anchored  at  a  good  landing  where  there 
were  a  number  of  large  native  canoes  moored  under 
the  trees.  We  knew  by  this  there  was  a  village 
somewhere.  The  trail  was  soon  found  and  we  went 
to  the  village  a  half  mile  away  into  the  jungle  and 
found  it  to  be  large  and  walled  in.  The  only  en- 
trance was  by  a  small  trap-door.  We  crawled  in  and 
the  steamer's  crew  followed.  The  chief,  "Makima, 
and  the  villagers  received  us  kindly.  The  town  was 
clean,  houses  large  and  well  built  of  bamboo  with 
two  rooms  to  many  of  them.  The  people  crowded 
around  Mr.  Lapsley  and  asked  to  see  his  hands,  and 
some  even  ventured  to  examine  them.  They  laughed 
heartily  and  enjoyed  themselves  greatly.  They  had 
never  seen  a  white  man  before. 


62  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

We  bought  plenty  of  food,  some  carved  wooden 
cups,  and  then  returned  to  the  steamer. 

April  17th.  Early  this  A.  M.  we  left  the  Kasai 
river  on  our  right  and  entered  the  Lulua  river, 
which  is  narrow  but  deep. 

The  whole  country  was  filled  with  palm  trees ;  the 
hills  and  valleys  and  everywhere  beautiful  palms. 
There  were  numerous  fishing  traps  along  the  bank, 
canoes  skimming  over  the  water,  paddled  by  excited 
natives,  getting  out  of  the  way  of  the  big  steamer, 
and  plenty  of  natives  and  small  towns  on  the  right 
bank. 

April  18th.  Last  night  the  crew  cut  plenty  of 
good,  hard,  dry  wood,  so  we  have  high  steam  and 
the  engine  is  hissing  and  puffing  and  the  paddle 
wheel  flying  around  at  a  great  rate. 

At  noon  we  were  all  on  the  bridge  with  the  cap- 
tain to  see  the  Luebo  Rapids,  the  head  of  navigation 
and  the  end  of  our  present  journey. 

Captain  Galhier,  on  his  departure,  assured  us  that 
he  would  be  back  again  in  nine  months.  At  this 
point  we  are  1,200  miles  from  the  coast  and  800 
miles  from  the  nearest  doctor  or  drug  store,  but  we 
were  comforted  by  these  words,  "Lo,  I  am  with  you 
alway." 


CHAPTER  V. 

BEGINNINGS  AT  LUEBO. 

Luebo,  April  21st.  We  pitched  our  tent  in  an  open 
space  between  the  forest  on  the  north  side  of  the 
Lulua  river.  The  natives  from  a  nearby  town  came 
swarming  around  to  see  the  faces  of  the  newcom- 
ers. They  were  well  armed  with  bows,  arrows  and 
spears,  but  we  put  on  our  broadest  and  best  smiles. 
A  little  excitement  was  raised  and  they  all  ran  off 
to  their  town. 

The  darkness  of  the  night  added  fresh  fears.  We 
could  hear  the  howling  of  the  jackals  in  the  jungle 
and  the  hooting  of  the  owls.  So  far  from  home, 
with  thousands  of  people  and  yet  alone,  for  not 
a  word  of  their  dialect  could  we  speak.  About 
5  o'clock  in  the  morning  how  our  hearts  were 
cheered  when  we  heard  the  chickens  in  the  town 
crowing.  We  laughed  heartily  and  said,  "Well, 
there  is  one  language  we  understand,  for  the  roost- 
ers crow  in  the  same  language  as  our  American 
roosters." 

DARKNESS  EVERYWHERE. — Not  only  were  the  na- 
tives' skin  dark  and  their  minds  and  hearts,  but 
there  was  not  a  visible  light  in  all  the  town.  Mr. 
Lapsley  tore  off  a  strip  from  one  of  his  garments, 
twisted  it  up  into  a  thick  string,  placed  it  in  an 

63 


64  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO. 

empty  corned  beef  tin,  filled  the  tin  with  native 
palm  oil  and  lighted  the  taper,  and  so  we  had  the 
first  artificial  light.  When  driver  ants,  scorpions  or 
serpents  disturb  a  native  he  reaches  up  and  tears 
off  a  strip  from  his  bamboo  hut,  sticks  it  between 
the  smouldering  chunks  of  wood  and  gets  a  light 
with  which  to  chase  the  intruder. 

The  moon  and  star  light  is  glorious  and  is  looked 
forward  to  with  great  pleasure,  and  they  seem  to 
shine  nowhere  so  brightly  and  beautifully  as  in 
"Darkest  Africa." 

BEGINNING  TO  LEARN  THE  LANGUAGE. — Of  course, 
they  had  no  written  language.  We  went  into  the 
town  and  with  pencil  and  book  in  hand  pointed  at 
objects.  For  instance,  a  goat,  and  they  called  out 
the  name,  "mbuvxi";  pointing  to  a  chicken,  they  in 
turn  called  out,  "nsola" ;  to  a  person  they  called  out 
"muntu."  To  get  the  plural  we  stood  two  people 
together,  and  they  said  "bantu."  There  was  not  a 
book  in  all  the  region.  They  had  never  seen  a  book, 
nor  a  piece  of  paper  of  any  description. 

THEIR  FIRST  BOOK. — Mr.  Lapsley  had  a  large  pic- 
turebook,  and  the  natives  asked  the  loan  of  it.  They 
excitedly  crowded  and  jostled  each  other,  eager  to 
see  and  to  touch  it.  How  strange  it  was.  They 
turned  and  counted  every  leaf.  And  then  had  it  up- 
side down,  for  they  saw  as  much  in  it  upside  down 
as  they  did  right  side  up.  It  was  all  the  same  to 
them,  for  they  had  never  seen  a  piece  of  paper  of 
any  description  in  their  lives. 


"MULUMBA  N  KUSU" 

The  great  Cannibal  Chief  of  the  "Zappi, — Zapp'  Tribe,  Cen- 
tral Africa.  He  is  seven  feet  high,  abnormal  neck.  Teeth 
filed  to  sharp  points.  He  can  look  at  the  sun  without  winking. 


SHEPPARD  AND  CHEBAMBI. 

Chebambi  interposed  for  me  during  the  terrible  cannibal 
raid  in  1899,  or  I  would  have  been  shot  to  shreds. 


BEGINNINGS  AT  LUEBO  65 

THE  FIRST  DAY  SCHOOL  IN  THE  KASAI  VALLEY. — 
We  smoothed  off  a  small  plot  on  the  ground  for  they 
had  no  slates  or  pencils,  and  with  a  sharpened  stick 
printed  the  alphabet;  and  had  the  little  boys  and 
girls  stand  up  and  repeat  the  letters.  They  showed 
marked  signs  of  intelligence,  and  soon  mastered 
their  A  B  C's. 

THE  FIRST  SABBATH  SCHOOL. — The  children,  and 
some  of  the  older  people,  too,  came  daily.  We  sat 
under  a  large  palm  tree  and  began  in  the  most  sim- 
ple way  possible  to  teach  them  about  God  and  His 
great  love  for  everybody  in  sending  His  Son  Jesus 
to  save  them. 

What  a  strange  story!  How  they  looked  at  each 
other,  touched  each  other,  and  laughed.  One  little 
girl,  smiling  and  intensely  interested,  asked  "Dina 
diyeye,  kabidi?"  (What  is  His  name  again?)  And 
Mr.  Lapsley,  with  a  holy  smile  upon  his  lips,  answer- 
ed, "Jesus,"  "What  is  his  Father's  name?"  fol- 
lowed quickly  from  the  little  inquisitor.  We 
answered  in  their  native  tongue,  "Here  you  call 
him  Njambi,  the  Great  Spirit,  and  in  our  country 
we  call  Him  God."  "Where  is  His  native  village?" 
she  anxiously  asked. 

A  STRANGE  THING. — One  morning  as  Mr.  Laps- 
ley's  door  blew  open  a  native  saw  a  strange  sight. 
It  was  Mr.  Lapsley  on  his  knees  by  his  couch  with 
his  face  in  his  Bible  praying.  The  native  was  anx- 
ious to  know  of  me  what  it  all  meant,  and  so  I  had 
the  pleasure  of  explaining  to  him  that  Mr.  Lapsley, 
their  friend,  was  talking  to  the  Great  King  above 


66  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

about  them.  The  native  was  so  pleased  he  ran  back 
to  the  town  and  told  it  to  the  people.  They  had 
never  heard  of  Jesus,  never.  And  there  was  our 
Lord  and  Savior  Jesus  Christ  standing  in  their  very 
midst,  upon  two  bleeding  feet,  with  two  hands  out- 
stretched, bleeding,  to  press  those  millions  to  a 
broken  heart,  and  they  had  never  heard  of  him — 
never ! 

THE  FIRST  RAY  OF  LIGHT. — One  day  as  Mr.  Laps- 
ley's  face  was  shining  with  divine  brightness,  and  as 
he  was  putting  his  whole  soul  into  his  sermon  on 
God's  love,  to  a  large  crowd  of  natives,  a  woman 
who  was  the  leader  of  the  town  dances  was  so  deeply 
touched  that  she  arose,  stretched  forth  her  long 
arms  and  said  distinctly  and  earnestly,  "Why,  Mr. 
Lapsley,  if  we  had  known  God  loved  us  we  would 
have  been  singing  to  Him."  Mr.  Lapsley  was  so 
overcome  that  he  could  say  but  little  more.  The 
Holy  Spirit  had  made  a  deep  impression  on  Malem- 
ba's  heart,  and  she  was  almost  yielding. 

The  missionary  of  Jesus  went  back  to  his  humble 
hut  with  a  heart  overflowing  with  gratefulness  and 
joy  for  this  first  ray  of  divine  light.  He  was  rest- 
less and  slept  but  little.  At  midnight  he  was  com- 
muning with  his  Lord  and  said,  "We  thank  Thee,  our 
Heavenly  Father,  for  this  the  first  evidence  of  Thy 
favor." 

The  people  had  given  Mr.  Lapsley  the  name  "Nto- 
manjela,"  meaning  a  path-finder,  for  he  had  found 
his  way  into  their  country,  their  homes,  their  lan- 
guage, and  into  their  hearts.  Chiefs  from  distant 


BEGINNINGS  AT  LUEBO  67 

towns  came  down  bringing  presents  of  chickens, 
ducks,  hogs,  dogs,  goats  and  sheep  and  made  friends 
with  us. 

A  GIRL  WHO  ATE  HER  MOTHER. — One  day  one  of 
Mr.  Lapsley's  friends  came  up  and  told  him  that 
some  cannibals  had  killed  a  woman  and  eaten  her, 
and  that  this  woman  had  a  little  child  who  had  also 
eaten  of  her  mother.  Mr.  Lapsley,  the  missionary, 
was  horrified,  and  inquired  fully  of  the  affair.  The 
people  told  him  that  the  caravan  would  pass  his 
way,  and  sure  enough  just  before  dusk  a  line  of  tired 
slaves  came  marching  slowly  by.  Mr.  Lapsley  ap- 
proached the  head  man,  the  chief,  and  asked  him 
to  halt  his  people  for  a  short  talk.  The  chief  did  not 
like  to  do  so,  but  he  stopped,  leaned  on  his  gun  and 
listened  to  hear  what  the  strange  foreigner  had  to 
say.  Mr.  Lapsley  gently  asked  why  they  had  killed 
and  eaten  one  of  the  slaves. 

The  chief  explained,  as  a  matter  of  course,  that 
the  woman's  feet  were  swollen  and  she  could  walk 
no  more,  so  they  only  did  as  they  always  do  with 
those  who  are  unable  to  march.  Mr.  Lapsley  asked 
the  chief  to  give  him  the  little  six-year-old  girl  and 
the  chief  said  he  would  exchange  the  girl  with  him 
for  a  goat.  Mr.  Lapsley  said  he  would  give  some 
foreign  cloth  for  her.  The  chief  agreed  to  turn  over 
the  little  girl,  "N'Tumba,"  to  us.  So  we  called 
in  a  native  woman  to  take  charge  of  her.  This 
woman  took  the  child  down  to  the  river  and  washed 
her  body  and  put  some  clothes  on  her.  N'Tumba, 
with  other  children  in  the  village,  was  taught  the 


68  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

alphabet,  attended  daily  services,  and  began  to  show 
an  intelligent  interest  in  Sunday  School. 

BUYING  DWELLING  HOUSES. — Our  tent  was  so 
small  and  hot  that  we  decided  to  buy  two  native 
bamboo  houses.  They  were  built  of  poles,  the  sides 
of  large  bamboo  mats,  roofed  with  long  palm  leaves 
sewn  together  and  put  on  over-lapping  very  much 
as  shingles.  These  houses  resemble  tiny  cot- 
tages eleven  feet  square  and  nine  feet  high.  The 
owner  of  the  house  started  with  a  very  high  price 
and  we  with  a  very  low  bid.  He  came  down  and  we 
advanced  in  our  offer.  Soon  we  agreed  on  a  price,  a 
straw  was  picked  up  by  the  owner  and  handed  to  us, 
he  saying,  "Chubika."  The  straw  was  broken  be- 
tween our  fingers,  he  spat  on  his  end  of  the  straw 
and  threw  is  over  his  shoulder  and  told  us  to  do  the 
same  with  the  end  we  had.  The  bargain  thereby 
was  sealed.  We  counted  out  our  native  money,  cow- 
rie shells,  and  paid  for  the  house.  And  when  we  had 
calculated  it  in  American  money,  we  found  that  we 
had  paid  50  cents  for  the  house.  Their  houses  are 
built  in  sections  and  we  soon  had  it  taken  down 
and  moved  on  our  land  and  reconstructed. 

We  bought  and  planted  palms,  bananas  and  plan- 
tain trees,  and  in  front  of  our  house  had  the  way 
nicely  swept.  In  the  pleasant  evening  we  would 
take  our  promenade  up  and  down  this  beautiful 
walk.  We  called  it  Pennsylvania  avenue. 

With  the  help  of  the  natives  we  began  to  clear  the 
forest,  take  up  the  stumps,  and  clean  up  generally. 
A  chicken,  parrot  and  monkey  house  was  soon  built, 


BEGINNINGS  AT  LUEBO  69 

for  there  were  many  of  these  brought  to  us  for  sale, 
and  they  were  all  good  for  food. 

We  built  a  shed  in  the  middle  of  the  compound  to 
be  used  for  dining  room,  sitting  room,  doctor's  office 
and  divine  service. 

We  made  daily  visits  to  the  village,  mingling  with 
the  people,  learning  their  language  and  curious  cus- 
toms. They  all  wore  their  native  cloth  ranging 
from  the  waist  to  their  knees.  They  were  given  to 
hearty  laughter,  joking,  playing  games,  and  running 
races.  Many  of  them  cultivated  the  ground,  raising 
manioc,  peas,  beans  and  tobacco,  and  others  spent 
their  time  hunting  and  fishing.  Every  night  there 
was  a  dance  held  in  the  big  square  in  the  center  of 
the  town.  The  noise  from  their  tom-toms,  ivory 
horns  and  singing  filled  the  air  until  midnight. 

MR.  LAPSLEY  AS  A  DOCTOR. — We  found  many  of 
the  people  suffering  from  various  diseases.  Mr. 
Lapsley  in  visiting  the  towns  always  carried  along 
his  medicine  case  and  dispensed  medicines  to  the 
sick.  To  our  surprise  they  took  calomel,  jalap,  Liv- 
ingstone rousers  and  compound  cathartics  without 
hesitating ;  and  as  for  castor  oil,  they  would  lick  the 
spoon  and  call  for  more.  In  two  months  the  medi- 
cine case  began  to  get  low.  Honestly,  those  people 
would  swallow  pills  just  as  long  as  you  would  deal 
them  out.  Mr.  Lapsley  ingratiated  himself  into  the 
hearts  of  the  Bakete  early. 

A  GRATEFUL  GIRL. — Mr.  Lapsley  never  charged 
the  people  for  medical  attention,  but  many  of  them 
showed  their  appreciation  of  his  kindness  by  giving 


70  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

him  little  presents  of  peanuts,  pineapples,  bananas, 
sugar  cane,  etc. 

But  I  never  saw  him  more  pleased  than  when  a 
little  laughing  girl  came  stepping  up  and  handed 
him  a  small  string  of  sun  perch.  Mr.  Lapsley  had 
been  her  doctor  when  she  was  down  with  fever. 

MOVING  INTO  THE  MOONLIGHT. — Before  the  chick- 
ens began  to  crow  for  dawn,  I  was  alarmed  by  a 
band  of  big,  broad-headed,  determined  driver  ants. 
They  filled  the  cabin,  the  bed,  the  yard.  There  were 
millions.  They  were  in  my  head,  my  eyes,  my  nose, 
and  pulling  at  my  toes.  When  I  found  it  was  not  a 
dream,  I  didn't  tarry  long. 

Mr.  Lapsley  and  some  of  our  native  boys  came 
with  torches  of  fire  to  my  rescue.  They  are  the  larg- 
est and  the  most  ferocious  ant  we  know  anything 
about.  In  an  incredibly  short  space  of  time  they  can 
kill  any  goat,  chicken,  duck,  hog  or  dog  on  the  place. 
In  a  few  hours  there  is  not  a  rat,  mouse,  snake,  cen- 
tipede, spider  or  scorpion  in  your  house,  as  they 
are  chased,  killed  and  carried  away.  We  built  a  fire 
and  slept  inside  of  the  circle  until  day.  We  were 
told  by  the  natives  that  when  there  are  triplets  born 
in  a  family  it  is  considered  very  bad  luck,  so  one 
of  the  babies  is  taken  by  the  witch  doctor  and  put 
into  a  deep  hole  where  these  ants  live  and  the  child 
is  soon  scented  by  them  and  eaten. 

BIG  BLACK  ANTS. — We  scraped  the  acquaintance 
of  these  soldier  ants  by  being  severely  bitten  and 
stung.  They  are  near  the  size  of  a  wasp  and  use 
both  ends  with  splendid  effect.  They  live  deep  down 


BEGINNINGS  AT  LUEBO  71 

in  the  ground  and  come  out  of  a  smoothly  cut  hole, 
following  each  other  single  file  and  when  they  reach 
a  damp  spot  in  the  forest  and  hear  the  white  ants 
cutting  away  on  the  fallen  leaves,  the  leader  stops 
until  all  the  soldiers  have  caught  up.  A  circle  is 
formed,  a  peculiar  hissing  is  the  order  to  raid,  and 
down  under  the  leaves  they  dart,  and  in  a  few  min- 
utes they  come  out  with  their  pinchers  filled  with 
white  ants.  The  line,  without  the  least  excitement, 
is  again  formed  and  they  march  back  home  stepping 
high  with  their  prey. 

WHITE  ANTS. — These  small  ants  have  a  blue  head 
and  a  white,  soft  body  and  are  everywhere  in  the 
ground  and  on  the  surface.  They  live  by  eating 
dead  wood  and  leaves. 

We  got  rid  of  the  driver  ants  by  keeping  up  a  big 
fire  in  their  cave  for  a  week.  We  dug  up  the  homes 
of  the  big  black  ants  and  they  moved  off.  But  there 
was  no  way  possible  to  rid  the  place  of  the  billions 
of  white  ants.  They  ate  our  dry  goods  boxes,  our 
books,  our  trunks,  our  beds,  shoes,  hats  and  cloth- 
ing. The  natives  make  holes  in  the  ground,  entrap- 
ping these  ants  and  use  them  for  food. 

RED  ANTS. — These  ants  are  the  size  of  yellow  jack- 
ets and  look  like  them,  and  are  smart  with  their 
nippers  and  tails.  They  live  in  nests  in  trees  like 
the  yellow  jacket.  They  are  caught  by  the 
witch  doctors,  crushed,  and  the  liquid  speezed  into 
the  eyes  and  nostrils  of  the  people  who  suffer  from 
sore  eyes  or  bad  colds,  and  the  pulp  is  eaten  by  the 
patient. 


72  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

Many  months  passed  away  while  we  were  hunt- 
ing, fishing,  clearing  the  land,  learning  the  lan- 
guage, teaching  school  and  receiving  visits  from 
chiefs  and  people. 

IDOLS  AND  IMAGES. — Indoors  and  out  were  numer- 
ous idols.  Those  inside  guarded  and  cared  for  the 
occupants  by  night,  and  those  outside  kept  their  eyes 
on  common  enemies  and  saw  that  no  one  with  an 
evil  spirit  entered  the  door. 

Out  of  a  limb  of  a  tree  these  idols  are  carved  into 
an  image  having  eyes,  nose,  mouth  and  hands.  They 
are  stuck  in  the  ground  and  often  from  the  nature 
of  the  tree  sprout  and  grow.  About  300  yards  from 
the  town  where  the  paths  part  a  very  large  idol 
seven  or  eight  feet  high  is  planted  to  break  the  pow- 
er of  any  one  entering  the  town  with  evil  intent. 

We  saw  a  father  and  mother  sitting  under  the 
eave  of  their  house  weeping  over  a  very  sick  child. 
Soon  the  witch  doctor  appeared  carrying  a  chicken 
in  his  arm,  which  he  rubbed  over  the  naked  body  of 
the  child.  He  then  went  to  one  of  these  images  and 
holding  the  chicken  over  the  image  broke  the  legs 
of  the  chicken,  then  its  back,  and  wringing  its  neck 
off  dropped  the  blood  on  the  images,  then  on  the 
child's  face  and  body.  The  doctor  left  the  chicken 
with  instructions  that  the  parents  should  eat  it.  In 
this  way  people  are  healed,  as  they  believe,  of  their 
diseases. 

BEAUTIFUL  BROWN  BABIES. — It  was  so  strange  to 
us  that  the  babies  were  all  born  white,  but  in  a  cou- 
ple of  weeks  they  showed  their  substantial  color. 


WEARING  AN  ENGAGEMENT 
RING. 


THE  DOGS  THAT  NEVER  BARK. 


BEGINNINGS  AT  LUEBO  73 

When  the  baby  is  announced  to  the  town  by  an  at- 
tendant it  is  the  signal  for  the  many  friends  of  the 
family  to  hurry  with  pots  of  cold  water  and  drench 
baby  and  mother,  half  drowning  them.  There  is 
much  shouting  and  laughing,  and  many  clay  pots 
are  broken  during  this  first  degree  of  annunciation. 
Palm  oil  is  soon  on  hand  and  baby  gets  a  greasy 
bath ;  a  big  break-down  dance  follows,  and  then  food 
is  served  by  the  father  to  all  the  dancers. 

In  less  than  a  week  the  baby's  regular  meal  is  sup- 
plemented by  the  mother's  forcing  with  her  fingers 
soft  bananas  and  corn  meal  mush  down  the  little 
ones'  throat.  There  is  much  kicking,  struggling  and 
strangling,  but  the  mother  assists  baby  by  pouring 
in  water  and  giving  him  a  good  shaking. 

FIERCE  FEUDS  AND  FIGHTS. — Time  and  time  again 
our  quiet  was  disturbed  by  the  blowing  of  the  ivory 
horns  and  the  beating  of  their  war  tom-toms.  On 
inquiry  we  found  that  one  of  their  women  had  been 
stolen  by  people  from  another  town.  Our  villagers 
were  a  quickly  excited  people  and  loved  to  fight.  Men 
going  only  a  few  hundred  yards  from  their  town 
were  always  armed  with  a  quiver  of  arrows,  bow 
and  spear.  Often  Mr.  Lapsley  was  called  to  care  for 
the  wounded.  The  witch  doctors  would  mark  the 
wounded  with  different  colors  of  paint,  but  the  peo- 
ple had  learned  that  Mr.  Lapsley's  medicine  was 
more  effective.  We  have  seen  our  town  in  bloody 
conflict  over  a  mere  trifle. 

CHILDREN  OF  NATURE.— They  had  two  general 
seasons,  the  rainy  and  the  dry,  "muxihu,  mvulu." 


74  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

Eight  months  comprised  the  rainy  season,  and  four 
the  dry.  It  did  not  rain  incessantly,  nor  was  it  al- 
ways dry,  and  it  never  rained  every  day,  and  sel- 
dom all  day. 

These  seasons  were  divided  into  minor  seasons,  as 
windy,  thunder,  caterpillar,  and  cricket  seasons. 
There  was  a  period  when  the  wind  blew  a  breeze 
from  the  south,  a  time  when  the  thunder  rolled  out 
its  heaviest  peals,  a  time  when  all  natives  gathered 
caterpillars  to  be  dried  for  food,  and  a  time  for  the 
coming  of  the  delicious  cricket.  This  cricket  was 
four  times  as  large  as  the  American  one  and  sang 
four  times  as  loud  and  long.  They  live  in  the  ground 
and  come  out  at  night  to  cut  and  eat  grass,  and  the 
natives,  with  torches,  capture  and  roast  them  for 
food. 

We  asked  men  for  dates,  or  of  their  ages,  and  they 
could  never  tell  us,  but  would  mention  an  occurrence 
which  took  place  when  the  stars  fought  together  and 
fell  from  the  elements,  or  when  a  certain  king  was 
killed. 

The  new  moon  was  always  looked  forward  to  with 
great  interest,  for  it  foretold  by  the  way  it  lay 
whether  there  was  to  be  peace  or  war.  A  man  go- 
ing on  a  journey  would  say  to  his  family  that  he 
would  be  back  in  so  many  moons,  and  to  keep  them 
accurately  he  would  tie  a  knot  at  the  appearance 
of  each  moon  in  a  string  which  he  wore  around  his 
neck.  Their  gardens  and  fields  were  planted  on  the 
light  and  dark  of  the  moon,  and  children  born  un- 
der certain  moons  were  fortunate  or  unfortunate. 


BEGINNINGS  AT  LUEBO  76 

It  seemed  to  us  there  was  no  place  in  all  the  world 
where  the  moon  shone  so  brightly  and  so  beautifully 
as  at  Luebo,  Central  Africa. 

The  native  week  was  divided  up  into  three  work- 
ing days — "Miyiya,  Nkela,  and  Ntoenkela."  Every 
fourth  day  no  one  on  account  of  the  spirits  went 
a  long  journey,  hunted,  fished,  or  worked  in  his 
fields.  The  day  was  spent  in  sweeping  around  their 
houses,  mending  their  nets,  making  mats,  weaving 
cloth,  and  holding  court.  Court  was  held  in  the 
square  of  the  town  under  a  large  shed.  The  people 
had  their  judges,  jurors,  lawyers  and  officers  of  the 
town,  but  no  written  laws,  and  all  evil-doers  were 
punished  by  fines.  A  man  that  was  found  guilty  of 
murder  was  forced  to  hang  himself. 

There  are  many,  many  kinds  of  birds  of  the  air, 
all  known  and  called  by  name,  and  the  food  they 
eat,  their  mode  of  building  nests,  etc.,  were  familiar 
to  the  people.  They  knew  the  customs  and  habits 
of  the  elephant,  hippopotamus,  buffalo,  leopard,  hy- 
ena, jackal,  wild-cat,  monkey,  mouse,  and  every  ani- 
mal which  roams  the  great  forest  and  plain,  from 
the  thirty-foot  boa-constrictor  to  a  tiny  tulu  their 
names  and  nature  were  well  known. 

The  little  children  could  tell  you  the  native  names 
of  all  insects,  such  as  caterpillars,  crickets,  cock- 
roaches, grasshoppers,  locusts,  mantis,  honey  bees, 
bumble  bees,  wasps,  hornets,  yellow  jackets,  goliath 
beetles,  stage  beetles,  ants,  etc. 

The  many  species  of  fish,  eels  and  terrapins  were 
on  the  end  of  their  tongues,  and  these  were  all  gath- 


76  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

ered  and  used  for  food.  All  the  trees  of  the  forest 
and  plain,  the  flowers,  fruits,  nuts  and  berries  were 
known  and  named.  Roots  which  are  good  for  all 
maladies  were  not  only  known  to  the  medicine  man, 
but  the  common  people  knew  them  also. 

A  RAIN-MAKER. — We  saw  a  rain-maker  in  Bena 
Kasenga  one  day  dressed  up  in  leopard  skins  and  his 
hair  filled  with  hawk  feathers,  and  in  his  hand  was 
a  buffalo  tail  and  a  sprig  of  a  tree.  This  wild  man 
claimed  that  he  could  bring  rain,  stop  rain,  quiet 
storms,  and  protect  the  people  from  lightning. 

A  TRIBAL  ORDINANCE. — Any  animal  killed  by  man, 
beast  or  lightning  shall  not  be  eaten  until  its  hair 
has  been  singed  off  by  fire.  By  this  process,  as  they 
explained,  no  communication  can  be  sent  to  other 
animals  of  its  final  fate. 

AN  ECONOMICAL  PEOPLE. — The  people  were  not 
wasteful!  Every  dead  sheep,  goat,  hog,  duck  or 
chicken  was  eaten.  Dead  elephants  have  been  found 
in  the  forest  and  over  ripe,  the  pieces  gotten  togeth- 
er in  baskets,  carried  to  the  town,  cooked  and  eaten. 
We  saw  men  put  out  rapidly  in  their  canoes  after 
a  large  dead  floating  fish. 

WITH  A  CARAVAN  GOING  SOUTH. — It  was  decided 
that  I  would  take  a  two  months'  journey  into  the 
Bena  Biomba  country  south  of  Luebo  as  far  as  Wiss- 
man  Falls,  so  with  a  well  equipped  caravan  we  jour- 
neyed south,  passing  and  sleeping  in  many  villages, 
learning  the  dialect  of  a  strange  and  strong  people. 
A  lake  was  discovered ;  also  new  streams,  and  some 
large  game  was  killed.  We  made  friends  and  treat- 


BEGINNINGS  AT  LUEBO  77 

ies  with  chiefs,  and  told  the  people  that  at  some  fu- 
ture day  we  would  send  them  teachers.  We  saw  na- 
tive cows  for  the  first  time.  At  one  of  the  markets, 
which  was  held  in  the  open,  the  people  were  cutting 
up  a  twenty-five-foot  boa-constrictor  into  round 
roasts  for  sale.  We  saw  many  tusks  of  ivory,  each  of 
which  would  have  brought  from  two  to  four  hun- 
dred dollars  in  a  European  market.  We  bought 
chickens  for  one  or  two  teaspoonfuls  of  small  white 
or  blue  beads. 

During  the  sixty-eight  days'  travel  I  found  the 
country  to  be  rolling  land  and  alluvial  soil  thickly 
populated  with  good,  industrious  people.  On  my 
return  to  Luebo  I  was  received  warmly  by  Mr.  Laps- 
ley  and  the  natives  and  a  banquiet  followed  the  same 
night 

MENU. 

Stewed  Fowl  Roast  Goat.  Manioc  Chips. 

Chicken  Broth. 

Native  Pumpkin. 

Native  Egg  Plant.  Greens. 

Bananas.  Peanuts.  Pineapple.  Plantains. 

and 
Tea,  with  Sugar 

QUAINT  COOKING. — During  my  absence  Mr.  Laps- 
ley  had  improved  on  the  cooking  plant  which  had 
been  formally  installed  under  a  palm  tree.  It  con- 
sisted of  a  well  built  shed  10x10  covered  with  long 
palm  leaves  sewn  together  to  keep  out  the  sun  and 
rain.  Very  solid  ant  mounds,  the  size  and  shape 
of  a  man's  head,  were  used  as  spiders,  and  on  three 
of  these  the  boy  cook,  who  was  a  mute,  placed  a  pot 
or  pan.  To  cook  several  things  at  once  more  ant 


78  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO  % 

mounds  were  installed.  The  cook  always  sat  or 
kneeled  on  the  dirt  floor  when  preparing  meals. 

CONEY  ISLAND. — Mr.  Lapsley  had  found  a  nice 
new  bathing  spot  a  half  mile  above  our  old  rocky 
landing.  We  would  swim  from  the  main  land  across 
to  a  large  sand  bank  near  the  Luebo  Rapids,  and 
on  the  warm  sand  would  enjoy  hand  over  hand  and 
leap  frog  and  run  races. 

His  LAST  LEAP, — Ngoya,  who  was  a  good  swim- 
mer, left  his  clothing  on  the  high  bank  and  made  a 
dive  for  the  deep  water.  It  was  nothing  out  of  the 
ordinary  and  but  little  attention  was  given  to  the 
performance.  After  a  few  moments,  when  Ngoya 
did  not  appear,  we  became  alarmed.  We  watched 
and  wished  for  the  best,  but  there  were  only  the  dis- 
tant ripples.  With  a  canoe  and  a  long  bamboo  pole 
we  searched  thoroughly.  Could  a  crocodile  have 
taken  him  off  so  quickly?  Did  his  head  strike  a 
stone,  or  a  snag?  His  clothing  was  carried  to  his 
wife,  and  there  weeping  and  wailing  soon  followed. 
The  unfortunate  man  was  heard  of  no  more. 

Six  UNSEEN  SIGHTS. — The  Bakete,  after  having 
seen  Mr.  Lapsley's  face  and  hands  and  making  close 
examination  of  both,  were  anxious  to  see  his  feet. 
They  begged  and  pleaded  with  him — men,  women 
and  children — to  pull  off  his  shoes  and  socks,  his 
socks  they  called  bags,  that  they  might  get  one  peep 
at  least.  To  satisfy  the  crowd  Mr.  Lapsley  exhibited 
his  small,  clean,  white  feet.  The  eyes  of  the  people 
opened  wide.  They  laughed,  talked  and  pulled  at 
each  other,  so  pleased.  Then  they  got  on  their  knees 


BEGINNINGS  AT  LUEBO  79 

and  began  to  handle  them.  Mr.  Lapsley  was  ticklish 
under  the  bottoms  of  his  feet  and  this  caused  him  to 
join  in  with  the  admirers  in  a  hearty  laugh.  This 
exhibition  had  to  be  repeated  for  the  newcomers  a 
number  of  times  daily. 

Matches  were  a  wonderful  fire  producer.  I  have 
many  times  bought  a  chicken  for  a  box  of  matches. 
It  takes  about  two  minutes  to  get  fire  out  of  two 
dried  sticks  in  the  native  way,  but  with  one  stroke 
of  a  match  on  the  box  you  have  fire.  They  were  a 
great  novelty  to  the  people. 

The  people  were  mightily  afraid  of  guns.  When 
you  would  raise  your  gun  to  shoot  a  passing  eagle 
or  hawk,  they  would  scatter  in  all  directions.  Some 
were  brave  enough  later  on  to  examine  our  guns. 

The  people  in  standing  around  would  see  Mr. 
Lapsley  writing.  They  would  stretch  their  necks, 
come  closer,  watch  the  movement  of  his  hand,  see 
the  little  marks  he  would  make.  They  inquired  of 
him  what  he  was  doing,  and  he  explained  that  he 
was  putting  down  his  thoughts.  It  was  a  wonderful 
thing  to  them  that  you  could  mark  down  your 
thoughts  and  they  would  stay  there.  Sometimes  Mr. 
Lapsley  would  send  me  a  note  by  one  of  the  crowd, 
and  when  I  would  tell  them  what  he  had  said,  they 
were  simply  dumbfounded.  To  prove  the  truthful- 
ness and  usefulness  of  the  "mukanda"  (book)  Mr. 
Lapsley  would  buy  something  in  the  town  and  send 
the  owner  of  the  article  to  me  at  the  mission  with 
a  note  to  pay  a  hundred,  or  two  hundred  cowries,  as 
the  case  might  be.  I  would  count  out  the  cowrie 


80 


shells  and  pay  the  debt.  Well,  it  worked  like  a 
charm  and  then  the  people  asked  us  to  teach  them 
how  to  write  books. 

The  people  when  dressing  their  hair  for  a  fun- 
eral, dance  or  wedding  would  pour  water  in  a  small 
clay  pot  and  use  this  for  a  looking  glass,  so  when 
we  showed  them  our  looking  glass  a  foot  long  they 
went  wild  and  offered  goats,  sheep,  ducks,  dogs,  any- 
thing, if  we  would  let  them  have  that  great  "Lu- 
munia,"  looking  glass.  And  later  on  came  the  won- 
der of  the  world — a  camera.  A  small  black  box 
with  a  real  eye  in  the  center,  which  could  catch 
them,  going  or  coming,  walking  or  talking,  fussing 
or  fighting.  With  them  it  was  an  "nkissi,"  a  spirit, 
a  thing  to  be  feared,  and  an  evil  eye,  to  fly  from  and 
hide. 

Mr.  Lapsley's  gold  watch  always  drew  a  crowd. 
With  their  mouths  and  eyes  wide  open  they  pushed 
and  jostled  each  other  to  get  a  peep  at  the  wonder- 
ful, mysterious,  moving  thing.  When  the  lid  flew 
open,  how  they  would  jump  back  and  laugh!  How 
carefully  and  wisely,  as  they  turned  their  heads 
from  side  to  side,  they  watched  the  little  hand  run- 
ning at  full  speed.  Then  the  back  was  opened  and 
they  saw  a  little  wheel,  a  forward  and  backward 
movement.  They  then  asked  us  to  show  them  the 
little  men  down  inside  who  do  the  pushing.  Mr. 
Lapsley  tried  to  explain,  but  it  was  useless,  for  they 
believed  there  were  little  people  down  inside  some- 
where to  make  the  thing  talk  and  walk. 

With  the  Bakete  even  the  sun  didn't  go  of  itself, 


BEGINNINGS  AT  LUEBO  81 

but  there  were  great  big  strong  men  who  caught  it 
as  it  descended,  put  it  into  a  great  canoe,  and  pulled 
it  across  the  deep  waters,  and  early  every  morning 
with  their  combined  strength  started  it  again  on  its 
journey. 

Mr.  Lapsley  tried  to  explain  to  them  that  buttons, 
beads,  looking  glasses,  guns,  etc.,  were  not  thrown 
up  on  the  shore  by  the  great  spirit  in  the  foreign 
country,  as  they  believed,,  but  were  really  made  by 
men. 

A  TRAVELING  MINSTREL. — You  may  be  surprised 
to  know  that  in  that  most  isolated  part  of  the  planet 
there  were  "traveling  minstrels."  They  were  the 
Baxolanc  tribe  south  of  Luebo.  There  was  a  piano, 
a  narrow  table-like  frame  with  strips  of  a  special 
kind  of  wood  laid  across  it  and  gourds  of  different 
sizes  tied  under  these  strips  to  produce  different 
sounds.  Two  men  with  sticks  like  bass  drumsticks 
performed  on  it.  Then  there  were  the  big  drum,  the 
head  made  of  goat's  skin,  and  two  small  drums,  with 
two  small  men  beating  them.  Then  came  the  little 
and  big  ivory  horns. 

None  of  the  ninety  members  of  the  minstrel  had 
to  burn  cork,  for  they  were  already  and  naturally 
made  up  when  they  came  to  town.  They  danced  in 
the  open  square,  forming  a  great  circle.  Such  jump- 
ing, twisting  and  cake-walking!  When  any  of  the 
spectators  were  pleased  with  a  dancer  they  went  up 
and  placed  cowrie  shells,  Congo  money,  in  their 
hands,  and  in  this  way  they  were  paid. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
MR.  LAPSLEY'S  LAST  JOURNEY. 

MR.  LAPSLEY  MAKES  A  GREAT  JOURNEY. — With 
tent,  traveling  bed  and  cooking  utensils  and  a  cara- 
van of  men,  Mr.  Lapsley  began  his  march  into  a 
new  country  lying  southeast  of  Luebo.  His  marches 
were  from  ten  to  thirty  miles  a  day,  according  to  the 
condition  of  the  trail  and  the  business  he  transacted 
with  the  chiefs  and  people  en  route. 

The  country  traversed  was  mountainous  and  well 
wooded  and  watered.  Day  by  day  he  marched,  al- 
ways pitching  his  tent  in  some  friendly  village.  He 
found  the  people  to  be  of  the  Lulua  tribe  and  also 
found  some  Baluba  living  far  away  south.  The  peo- 
ple on  the  whole  were  docile  and  received  him  kind- 
ly, making  him  presents  of  goats,  chickens,  hogs 
and  dogs. 

The  houses  of  the  people  were  small,  with  conical- 
shaped  roofs,  the  walls  being  made  of  large  strips  of 
bark  from  the  trees  and  the  roofs  thatched  with 
grass.  The  people  were  very  scantily  clad,  many 
wearing  only  monkey  skins. 

In  all  the  towns  Mr.  Lapsley  told  them  the  story 
of  the  cross.  The  people  listened  with  marked  at- 
tention. The  story  was  a  strange  one  to  them.  He 
was  asked  over  and  over  by  the  Lulua  people  to  make 
his  home  in  their  towns,  sing  to  them,  and  teach 
them  more  about  his  God. 

82 


MR.  LAPSLEY'S  LAST  JOURNEY  83 

Far  away  south  Mr.  Lapsley  met  and  made  friends 
with  a  big  chief,  who  gave  him  a  present  of  two 
men,  a  little  girl  and  a  number  of  goats  and  sheep. 
Another  gave  him  four  hogs,  some  dogs,  and  much 
food. 

After  Mr.  Lapsley's  extended  trip  far  south  and 
his  careful  and  valuable  investigation  of  people  and 
country,  he  turned  his  face  toward  Luebo.  All  along 
the  route  natives  who  had  fallen  in  love  with  him 
joined  the  caravan.  In  many  cases  men  with  their 
wives,  children,  goats,  sheep,  and  all  their  belong- 
ings followed  him  to  Luebo. 

How  happy  we  were  when  a  runner  announced 
Mr.  Lapsley's  arrival.  With  the  big  ivory  horn 
blowing  and  the  drums  beating,  we  ran  down  the 
banana  walk  to  greet  and  welcome  him  home.  He 
was  tired,  worn,  and  weary,  and  walked  with  a  limp. 
He  had  been  scorched  by  the  sun,  beaten  by  the 
rains,  and  torn  by  the  thorns;  his  coat  was  in  tat- 
ters, and  his  last  pair  of  shoes  worn  into  holes ;  but 
through  all  of  this  he  had  that  heaven-born  smile  as 
he  said,  "Sheppard,  how  are  you?  I  am  glad  to  see 
you."  Soon  we  had  him  seated  in  front  of  his  cabin 
in  a  camp  chair  and  a  pan  of  cool  fresh  water  for 
his  tanned  face  and  tired  feet. 

Our  cook  killed  a  goat  and  a  feast  of  the  very  best 
we  had  followed.  I  could  bear  the  burning  sand 
with  bare  feet  easier  and  safer  than  Mr.  Lapsley 
could,  so  the  last  pair  of  shoes  of  the  camp,  though 
two  sizes  too  large,  were  brought  forth  and  put  on 
his  feet.  But  I  could  not  refrain  from  withdrawing 


84  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

to  the  bushes  nearby  and  there  in  the  quiet  I  thought 
of  the  beautiful  Southern  home  on  the  hillside  in 
Anniston,  Ala.,  of  the  clothing,  food  and  comfort  in 
that  home,  of  the  dear  hearts  of  that  home  who  so 
loved  Mr.  Lapsley,  and  I  broke  down  in  spirit  and 
wept. 

AN  AFRICAN  FEVER. — Mr.  Lapsley  told  me  the 
evening  of  his  arrival  that  every  bone  in  his  body 
ached,  and  that  he  felt  as  though  he  had  been  beaten 
with  rods.  A  fever  soon  followed.  I  nursed  him 
carefully  and  tenderly  through  it  and  he  was  much 
improved  in  color  from  the  purges  and  quinine. 

TALES  OF  THE  LULUA  TRAIL. — Mr.  Lapsley  enter- 
tained  the  villagers  and  me  for  hours  with  the  story 
of  his  journey  ings  amongst  the  Lulua  and  Baluba 
tribes;  of  how  he  followed  the  trails,  crossed  the 
streams,  saw  and  shot  game,  made  friends  with 
chiefs  and  people,  preached  the  gospel  to  thousands 
of  half -clad  natives,  and  sang  for  them ;  and  of  how 
they  hung  upon  his  words  and  begged  him  to  make 
his  home  in  their  towns.  He  told  us  about  their 
idols,  their  fetiches,  their  superstitions,  and  how 
no  one  died  a  natural  death,  for  in  the  minds  of  the 
people  someone  had  bewitched  the  unfortunate;  of 
how  people  were  accused  of  witchcraft — men  and 
women ;  of  how  they  were  tested  by  the  witch  doc- 
tors with  a  well  loaded  flint-lock  gun,  and  if  the  gun 
did  not  fire  when  the  trigger  was  pulled  the  person 
was  not  guilty,  but  if  it  did  go  off  the  accused  was 
shot  to  death  and  therefore  guilty. 

OUR  FIRST  COLONY. — The  Lulua  and  Baluba  who 


ME.  LAPSLEY'S  LAST  JOURNEY          85 

had  followed  Mr.  Lapsley  asked  for  a  site  on  which 
to  build  their  future  town.  He  pointed  out  a  large 
unoccupied  section  lying  to  our  left,  and  the  work 
of  cutting  down  trees,  digging  up  stumps  and  build- 
ing houses  commenced  at  once.  In  a  short  while 
others  hearing  a  good  report  of  Luebo  and  the  mis- 
sionaries, followed  and  settled  around  us.  People 
of  a  far  interior  tribe,  speaking  a  different  dialect 
and  calling  themselves  Bakuba,  came  also.  They 
mentioned  that  their  king  ruled  over  all  the  tribes 
of  the  country.  We  were  interested  in  their  appar- 
ent superiority  in  physique,  manners,  dress  and  dia- 
lect. We  asked  to  be  allowed  to  accompany  them 
to  their  country  and  king,  but  they  said  it  was  im- 
possible, their  king  would  never  allow  a  foreigner  to 
come  into  the  interior.  Mr.  Lapsley's  faith  was  so 
strong  that  he  believed  that  the  Lord  would  protect 
us  and  that  we  would  enter. 

MR.  LAPSLEY'S  RETURN  TO  THE  COAST. — In  these 
nine  months  we  both  had  suffered  a  number  of  at- 
tacks of  fever.  The  steamboat  brought  a  letter  from 
the  Belgian  Governor  General  calling  Mr.  Lapsley  to 
come  down  to  the  capital  on  important  business. 
The  beach  was  crowded  with  natives  to  wave  him 
good-bye.  The  stranger  who  had  come  to  their  land 
on  a  strange  errand  was  now  known  and  loved. 

NEW  BUILDINGS  ERECTED. — After  some  days  I 
called  the  natives  together  and  laid  before  them 
plans  of  two  large  new  houses.  They  accepted  and 
were  soon  off  to  the  forest  to  bring  the  necessary 
material,  and  in  less  than  two  months  the  houses 


86  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

were  completed.  We  built  outhouses,  fences,  made 
gardens,  and  cut  a  large  way  through  the  forest, 
connecting  mission  and  native  village.  The  number 
in  school  and  church  attendance  grew. 

Now  and  then  for  a  change  we  would  go  elephant 
or  buffalo  hunting.  Monkeys  were  also  plentiful  in 
the  forest  just  back  of  the  garden,  and  food  of  a 
great  variety  was  plentiful. 

THEY  WERE  SUPERSTITIOUS. — One  midnight  I  was 
startled.  The  village  was  in  an  uproar.  When  I  ar- 
rived they  informed  me  that  one  of  the  men  had 
died,  and  it  was  the  custom  for  everybody  to  cry 
aloud,  to  wail,  to  make  tears  come  anyhow.  Any 
person  not  showing  signs  of  grief  is  suspected,  and 
after  the  funeral  is  accused  of  witchcraft  and  must 
drink  poison  as  a  test.  If  they  vomit  the  poison  they 
are  by  the  witch  doctors  pronounced  innocent,  but 
if  they  do  not  vomit  they  die  and  therefore  are 
guilty. 

The  twitching  of  the  eye,  the  itching  of  the  hand, 
the  flying  of  a  crow  across  one's  house,  the  hooting 
of  the  owl  in  the  jungle,  a  snake  crossing  one's  trail, 
were  all  bad  signs.  When  there  was  an  obstruction 
in  the  trail  they  would  never  part,  but  follow  each 
other  on  the  same  side,  and  if  one  stumped  his  toe 
and  it  bled  freely,  he  would  return,  deferring  his 
journey. 

They  called  my  attention  one  evening  to  the  new 
moon.  It  stood  very  much  on  the  point.  They  said, 
"There  is  going  to  be  war,  and  we  are  going  to 
sharpen  our  knives  and  spears  and  dip  afresh  our 


MR.  LAPSLEY'S  LAST  JOURNEY.          87 

arrows  in  poison."  I  threw  a  clod  of  dirt  at  a  man 
one  day  in  fun.  He  was  indignant,  saying  it  meant 
very  bad  luck  to  him.  Dreams  are  serious  things 
and  are  always  taken  to  the  witch  doctors  for  inter- 
pretation. One  of  our  villagers  was  killed  by  an  ele- 
phant. They  believed  an  enemy  sent  the  elephant. 
A  leopard  one  day  tore  the  face  and  shoulders  of 
"Mimanini"  fearfully.  The  witch  doctors  hunted 
down  an  innocent  neighbor  and  accused  him  of 
sending  the  leopard. 

No  DEATHS  WERE  FROM  NATURAL  CAUSES. — 
Thunder,  lightning,  and  storm  were  sent  by  the 
Great  Spirit  "Nzambi,"  who  hates  them.  Truly  the 
souls  of  these  people  were  enveloped  in  the  blackness 
of  an  awful  midnight. 

The  people  were  always  asking  of  Mr.  Lapsley's 
return  to  them.  I  comforted  them  by  saying  that 
he  would  be  coming  soon,  for  many  moons  had 
passed  away,  and  I  longed  for  his  return.  I  had 
studied  the  new  dialect  of  the  Bukuba  and  had  made 
every  preparation  for  our  expedition  into  the  "For- 
bidden Land"  of  King  Lukenga. 

SAD  NEWS. — At  3  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  a  native 
reported  having  sighted  smoke  in  the  sky  down  the 
river.  "Chuck  a  chuck!"  "Chuck  a  chuck!"  (Steam- 
boat! Steamboat!)  cried  the  people,  and  their  hands, 
legs  and  mouths  got  busy.  "Ntomanjela  waduadua, 
Ntomanjela  waudaudua!"  (Mr.  Lapsley  is  coming; 
Mr.  Lapsley  is  coming.)  Our  hearts  leaped  for  joy. 
I  ran  with  the  natives  down  to  the  river  bank  as 
the  steamer  hove  in  sight  around  the  point.  On  she 


88  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

came  steaming  up  the  strong  current.  She  touched 
shore  and  made  fast.  I  looked  on  deck,  but  did  not 
see  Mr.  Lapsley.  The  captain  beckoned  me  to  come 
on  board.  He  handed  me  a  letter  and  it  told  the 
tale— 

"Matadi,  Congo  Independent  State, 

"W  C.  Africa,  March  29,  1892. 
"Dear  Bro.  Sheppard: 

"You  will  be  surprised  and  grieved  to  know  that  your 
friend  and  comrade,  Rev.  S.  N.  Lapsley,  while  here  at  the 
coast  was  taken  down  with  bilious  hematuric  fever,  and  the 
26th  of  March  died. 

"Yours  in  haste, 

"S.  C.  Gordon." 

What  a  blow !  I  was  shocked.  My  head  became 
giddy.  My  knees  smote  together,  I  staggered  from  the 
deck,  threw  up  my  right  hand  to  the  hundreds  of  as- 
sembled, natives  and  called  out,  "Ntomanjela  wa 
kafu."  (Mr.  Lapsley  is  dead).  The  weeping  and 
wailing  started  at  once.  The  news  soon  reached  the 
village  and  there  was  wild  excitement  and  grief.  I 
sought  a  quiet  spot  in  the  forest  to  pour  out  my 
soul's  great  grief  to  Almighty  God.  I  had  nursed 
Mr.  Lapsley  in  all  his  fevers,  and  he  in  turn  had 
nursed  me;  and  now  the  Master  had  separated  us 
more  than  a  thousand  miles  apart  and  had  called 
\/  him,  the  better  prepared  of  the  two,  to  himself.  The 
next  day  I  wrote  the  following  letter  to  his  dear 
mother : 

Luebo,  Congo  Independent  State, 

W.  C.  Africa,  March  26,  1892. 
Dear  Mrs.  Lapsley: 

I  know  that  you  have  wondered  why  I  have  not  written 
you,  or  why  I  was  not  the  first  to  break  to  you  the  sad  news, 
but  as  you  may  know  we  were  a  thousand  miles  apart,  and  at 


Congo  Cloth 


MR.  LAPSLEY'S  LAST  JOURNEY          89 

this  point  of  the  interior  we  get  a  steamer  once,  or  perchance 
twice  a  year. 

About  the  1st  of  January,  your  darling  son  was  sick  with 
a  fever.  In  three  days  he  was  feeling  much  better.  A  steam- 
er, the  "Florida,"  came  in  just  then.  Mr.  Lapsley  and  I  both 
thought  that  a  change  for  a  month  or  so  would  be  beneficial 
to  him,  and  he  also  had  some  business  with  the  governor 
about  our  land.  He  thought  to  accomplish  this  and  look  after 
the  transport  at  the  same  time,  so  he  secured  passage  and 
left  January  6,  1892,  for  Stanley  Pool. 

That  Wednesday  morning,  February  26,  1890,  at  the  foot 
of  W.  10th  Street,  New  York,  just  a  few  moments  before  the 
"Adriatic"  left  for  England,  you  placed  your  arms  around 
your  boy  and  gave  him  his  last  kisses  and  Godspeed  till  you 
should  meet  again,  and  turning  to  me  remarked:  "Sheppard, 
take  care  of  Sam."  We  went  at  once  into  Mr.  Lapsley's  cabin 
and  prayed  that  the  good  Master  would  comfort  you  and  pro- 
tect us.  We  held  daily  communion  with  God. 

We  spent  a  month  in  England,  being  together  always.  On 
board  the  steamer  "African"  we  held  daily  private  prayer, 
and  would  often  mention  and  ask  special  blessings  upon  our 
parents  whom  we  were  leaving.  We  entered  Africa  and  pro- 
ceeded as  we  procured  information.  We  had  never  been  sep- 
arated for  any  length  of  time  since  we  left  America.  I  can 
place  my  hand  on  my  heart  and  look  straight  up  to  God  and 
say  conscientiously,  "I  have  kept  the  charge  you  gave  me;  I 
have  loved  and  cared  for  him  as  if  he  were  my  own  brother." 
The  last  word  of  one  of  his  sisters  at  the  depot  in  Anniston 
was,  'Sheppard,  take  care  of  Sam."  It  has  not  only  been  a 
duty  of  mine,  but  a  pleasure.  I  have  nursed  and  cared  for 
him  in  all  his  sickness,  and  he  has  done  the  same  for  me. 
When  I  was  sick  his  eyes  knew  no  sleep.  By  my  side  he 
would  sit  and  give  me  medicine. 

On  our  canoe  trip  up  the  Kasai  he  was  quite  sick  with 
hematuric  fever.  It  was  the  rainy  season  and  we  were  un- 
duly exposed,  so  we  camped  for  three  days  on  a  beautiful  Is- 
land near  the  Kwango.  There  was  nothing  we  could  get  that 
was  nourishing  for  him,  and  he  remarked,  "Oh!  I  wish  my 
dear  mother  were  here  she  would  know  just  what  to  do  for 
me."  Shortly  after  this  trip  we  came  to  Luebo,  and  here  we 
have  labored  as  best  we  could  in  promoting  the  Lord's  king- 
dom. Every  day  we  would  have  prayer  and  talks  with  our 
people.  Many  nights  when  all  was  wrapped  in  sleep  he  would 
be  walking  up  and  down  the  walk,  communing  with  God. 

Yesterday,  May  25th,  when  the  steamer  blew  I  at  once  or- 
dered the  people  to  sweep  the  walks,  and  fix  everything  in 


90  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

order  so  that  the  station  would  present  a  nice  appearance.  I 
hurried  to  the  river  and  the  captain  handed  me  a  handful  of 
mail.  I  hurried  and  opened  a  letter  to  get  some  news,  and 
oh,  how  sad  the  news!  I  was  struck  dumb.  He  who  left  me 
a  few  months  ago  and  said,  "Good-bye,  Sheppard;  God  bless 
you,  I  will  return  by  the  next  steamer."  Dead!  Oh!  is  it 
possible?  He,  my  comrade  and  co-worker,  from  whom  I 
have  not  been  separated  these  two  years,  now  dead!  It  was 
sad,  more  than  sad,  when  I  broke  the  news,  to  hear  the  men, 
women  and  children  weeping,  for  him  whom  they  loved.  And 
today  they  have  been  crowding  in  and  asking,  "Is  the  news 
true?"  The  greatest  weepers  were  the  chief's  family,  whose 
son  was  Mr.  Lapsley's  personal  boy. 

My  friend  and  brother  has  gone  to  be  with  Christ,  and  I 
shall  see  him  no  more.  No  more  kneeling  together  in  prayer! 
No  more  planning  together  future  work  His  work  is  done, 
and  he  is  now  blest  with  peaceful  rest.  Oh,  that  I  could  have 
nursed  him!  That  I  could  have  kneeled  at  his  bedside  and 
heard  his  last  whispers  of  mother,  home,  and  friends.  This 
is  my  sorrow,  that  I  was  not  by  his  side  while  he  fell  asleep. 
I  know  that  your  heart  is  breaking.  I  wish  I  could  say  a 
word  to  comfort  you.  Little  did  you  know  that  his  farewell 
was  forever.  But  he  shall  be  standing  at  the  beautiful  gate 
waiting  for  you.  We  shall  all  soon  join  him  where  farewells 
and  adieus  are  unknown.  We  submit  to  the  Master's  will 
saying,  "Not  ours,  but  thine  be  done.  What  thou  doest  we 
know  not  now,  but  we  shall  know  hereafter." 

"Sleep  on,  beloved,  sleep  and  take  thy  rest  ; 
Lay  down  thy  head  upon  thy  Saviour's  breast; 
We  loved  thee  well,  but  Jesus  loved  thee  best." 
Humbly  and  obediently, 

Sheppard. 


CHAPTER  VII. 
INTO  A  FORBIDDEN  COUNTRY. 

START  FOR  THE  FORBIDDEN  LAND. — After  some 
weeks  had  elapsed,  I  called  our  station  natives  to- 
gether and  laid  plainly  before  them  the  perils  of  the 
journey.  I  told  them,  from  the  information  which  I 
had,  that  the  trails  which  had  been  made  by  ele- 
phant, buffalo,  antelope  and  Bakuba  natives  were 
many  and  they  led  over  long,  hot,  sandy  plains 
through  deep  dark  forests,  across  streams  without 
bridges,  and  through  swamps  infested  with  wild 
animals  and  poisonous  serpents.  And  above  all,  the 
king  had  sent  word  throughout  the  land  that  we 
could  not  enter  his  country.  Not  a  man's  muscle 
moved.  I  said  further,  "Mr.  Lapsley,  your  friend 
and  mine,  desired  so  much  to  journey  into  that  land, 
and  it  was  his  purpose  on  his  return  to  take  this 
trip,  but  you  have  the  sad  news  that  he  will  journey 
no  more  with  us."  There  was  not  a  dissenting  voice. 

HAD  GENERAL  INFORMATION. — I  had  picked  up  the 
Bakuba  dialect  from  some  of  the  king's  traders  and 
tax  collectors  who  journeyed  our  way.  I  received 
from  them  much  information  of  the  general  direc- 
tion leading  north  toward  the  capital,  the  names  of 
large  towns  on  the  way,  of  the  market  towns,  the 
approximate  distances  apart,  the  streams  to  be 
crossed,  and  their  names ;  of  the  leopard,  buffalo  and 

91 


92  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

elephant  zones,  and  the  names  of  some  of  the  chiefs 
of  the  market  towns,  etc. 

WE  HIT  THE  SANDY  TRAIL. — Two  days  later,  when 
all  was  in  readiness,  tents  loaded,  cooking  utensils, 
a  bag  of  money  (cowrie  shells),  some  salt,  etc.,  we 
left  Luebo,  led  by  the  Master's  hand. 

KAPUNGA  HEARS  HER  FIRST  MESSAGE. — My  men 
knew  from  previous  experience  the  right  trail  to 
take  as  far  as  the  Bakete  village,  Bena  Kapunga, 
which  led  us  through  Bena  Kalamba.  We  camped 
for  the  evening  and  had  a  long  talk  with  the  old 
chief.  I  bought  eggs,  chickens,  and  some  dried  field 
rats  for  my  people.  As  night  came  on,  we  gathered 
around  the  camp  fire  and  sang  one  of  the  hymns, 
"We  Are  Marching  to  Zion,"  translated  by  Mr..Laps- 
ley,  and  gave  a  public  gospel  talk  to  hundreds  of 
natives  who  hurriedly  gathered  when  we  began  to 
sing. 

A  DANCING  PEOPLE. — The  moon,  large  and  beau- 
tifully red,  rose  in  a  little  while.  The  townspeople 
brought  out  their  tom-toms  and  ivory  horns  to  sing 
and  dance  in  the  open. 

My  caravan  was  housed  under  a  large  shed,  the 
village  court  house,  not  far  from  my  tent.  From 
the  drums,  the  horns,  the  singing  and  the  falling 
over  the  tent  ropes  by  passing  natives  and  the  many 
meddlesome  goats  chewing  on  the  tent,  there  was  no 
sleeping  till  the  first  "cock  crew." 

SEEKING  THE  TRAIL. — We  spent  three  days  in 
Bena  Kapunga  before  we  could  get  our  bearings  for 
the  next  big  weekly  market  place.  After  much  per- 


INTO  A  FORBIDDEN  COUNTRY  93 

suasion  the  chief  gave  a  man  to  show  one  of  my  men 
the  trail  to  Ngallicoco,,  a  two  days'  journey.  They 
together  journeyed  to  Ngallicoco  and  returned, 
bringing  many  dozens  of  eggs  and  other  food.  My 
own  man  now  knew  the  trail,  so  the  following  day 
we  packed  up  and  were  off.  We  passed  through  a 
number  of  small  villages,  slept  in  one,  and  in  due 
time  came  to  Ngallicoco.  The  chief  made  us  wel- 
come to  his  town,  but  wanted  to  know  at  once  where 
we  were  journeying.  We  told  him  we  were  looking 
through  the  country  and  visiting  the  many  villages, 
that  I  was  not  a  bad  man  and  I  was  a  friend  to  ev- 
erybody, and  that  my  business  was  to  tell  them  of 
the  Great  Spirit.  The  chief  and  his  people  seemed 
much  puzzled  and  sat  around  in  groups  quietly  dis- 
cussing matters. 

MY  FIRST  BLUNDER. — I  was  seated  in  front  of  my 
tent  and  had  picked  up  a  handful  of  palm  nuts  and 
amused  myself  by  throwing  them  at  a  mark  on  a 
house  nearby.  In  a  moment  a  man  rushed  out  very 
much  excited.  He  gave  two  or  three  war  whoops 
and  the  villagers  began  to  run  in  his  direction.  I 
became  alarmed  and  inquired  of  one  of  my  men  the 
trouble.  And  he  explained  that  the  occupant  of  the 
house  was  going  to  die,  because  I  struck  his  house 
with  a  palm  nut.  The  man's  "Life  Medicine,"  or 
charm,  had  been  made  by  the  witch  doctor  from 
palm  nuts  and  no  one  dared  strike  his  house  with 
one.  Immediately  I  went  over  to  the  excited  crowd 
and  explained  my  ignorance  of  the  fact  and  prom- 
ised to  make  reparation.  It  was  accepted,  so  I 


94  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

begged  the  man's  pardon,  and  presented  him  with 
a  chicken  and  we  became  friends  again. 

LIVE  IDOLS. — I  don't  know  of  a  place  where  I  saw 
more  idols  than  here  at  Ngallicoco.  At  the  cross 
trails  near  the  village  were  idols  seven  and  eight 
feet  high  and  alive,  that  is,  the  trees  from  which 
they  were  made  were  planted  two  feet  in  the  ground 
and  continued  to  grow.  Four  or  more  idols  were 
planted  at  the  door,  an  idol  for  the  husband  and 
wife,  one  for  each  child,  and  for  each  dog,  and  so  on. 

A  NEW  STORY. — We  held  our  prayer  service  and 
delivered  the  first  message  of  love  and  light  these 
people  had  ever  heard.  As  night  came  on  and  the 
moon  in  her  glory  shone  out,  the  big  drums  started 
and  the  people  danced  until  the  wee  morning  hours. 

BORN  HUNTERS. — These  people  seemed  to  spend 
most  of  their  time  in  hunting,  from  the  numerous 
animals  brought  in — wild  hogs,  antelope,  hyenas, 
wild  cats,  monkeys,  bush  rats,  field  rats,  etc.  The 
women  busied  themselves  bringing  in  from  the 
fields  roots  of  cassava,  bananas  and  greens.  The 
streets  were  filled  with  little  children. 

THE  FIRST  BAKUBA  VILLAGE. — I  met  a  young 
Bakuba  who  informed  me  that  his  name  was  Bope 
N'gola  Minge.  He  invited  me  to  make  a  visit  to  his 
town.  I  asked  how  far  it  was,  and  he  told  me  the 
distance  in  the  native  way.  I  judged  it  was  about 
three  hours'  march,  fifteen  miles.  I  was  delighted, 
knowing  that  this  man  had  full  knowledge  of  King 
Lukenga's  edict,  and  yet  cordially  invited  me  to  his 
town.  I  left  my  caravan,  taking  with  me  only  one 


INTO  A  FORBIDDEN  COUNTRY  95 

of  my  men.  We  made  the  trip  up  hill  and  down, 
through  jungle  and  swamp,  arriving  in  M'boma,  the 
man's  village,  late  in  the  afternoon.  I  was  glad  we 
arrived  before  sundown,  because  we  have  no  twi- 
light in  the  Kasai  region,  and  the  moon  was  falling 
back. 

REAL  INDIAN  CORN. — I  met  the  chief,  a  fine  young 
man,  Hong  N'joka,  his  name  meaning  an  elephant 
the  size  of  a  mountain,  though  he  was  not  quite  so 
large.  I  was  pleased  with  the  villagers  who  came 
around  in  great  numbers.  The  chief  fed  me  on 
splendidly  dried  fish  and  corn  pone.  This  was  the 
first  corn  I  had  seen. 

THE  POISONOUS  CUP. — The  next  morning  we  re- 
traced our  trail  to  Ngallicoco.  There  were  so  many 
meddlesome  goats,  sand  flies  and  fleas  we  decided  to 
return  at  once  to  M'boma.  After  two  hours'  march- 
ing and  our  hearts  so  glad  with  the  prospects  of  get- 
ting safely  into  the  first  Bakuba  town,  we  suddenly 
ran  upon  an  excited  crowd  of  people,  most  of  them 
men  armed  with  spears,  bows  and  arrows.  I  called 
an  immediate  halt  to  my  caravan.  The  armed  force 
showed  no  signs  of  fight,  but  rather  to  run  away. 
Bope,  my  Bakuba  friend,  explained  that  they  were 
giving  a  witch  poison,  and  they  never  administered 
the  deadly  drug  inside  of  their  towns,  but  far  out  on 
the  plain.  On  this  information  I  started  for  the 
crowd,  saluted  them  in  their  tongue,  and  to  my  hor- 
ror as  I  drew  near  they  were  slowly  driving  a  wo- 
man to  whom  they  had  given  the  poison.  She  ran 
about  fifty  yards,  staggered,  reeled,  and  fell  with  a 


9ft  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

thud.  A  shout  went  up  from  them  all,  "Naki!" 
"Naki!"  (Witch!  Witch!)  --At  once  the  witch  doctor, 
a  great,  strong  man,  with  eagle  feathers  in  his  hair, 
a  leopard  skin  around  his  loins,  leaped  upon  the  wo- 
man's neck  and  crushed  out  the  remaining  life.  Like 
a  shot  the  men  were  off,  and  returned  with  loads  of 
dry  wood,  placed  the  woman's  body  on  the  pile, 
poured  on  palm  oil  and  stuck  a  torch  to  the  heap. 

MY  FRIEND  EXPLAINED. — My  friend  Bope  ex- 
plained that  someone  died  in  a  nearby  village  and 
they  believed  that  the  woman  was  the  guilty  party 
who  had  bewitched  her.  For  if  she  had  not  been 
guilty,  he  said  ,the  victim  would  have  vomited  the 
poison.  Well,  I  must  acknowledge  I  walked  into 
M'boma  with  rather  weak  knees. 

EXCHANGING  PRESENTS. — The  chief,  Hong  Njoka, 
and  I  exchanged  presents.  He  gave  me  a  dozen 
chickens,  two  large  goats,  one  sheep,  a  big  hamper 
of  peanuts,  six  full  bunches  of  bananas,  and  a  warm 
welcome,  while  I  gave  to  him  two  pounds  of  salt,  two 
yards  of  white  domestic,  500  cowrie  shells,  ten  tea- 
spoonfuls  of  blue  and  white  beads,  a  handful  of  tiny 
bells  and  a  small  looking  glass.  The  latter  was  the 
finest  present  of  them  all. 

A  FLYLESS  COUNTRY.— There  was  a  constant  gen- 
tle breeze  on  the  high  plateau,  not  a  mosquito  any- 
where, and,  strange  to  say,  you  seldom  see  a  house 

fly. 

WE  WENT  ELEPHANT  HUNTING. — The  chief,  who 
was  a  great  hunter  and  had  skulls  of  every  variety 
of  animals  bleaching  in  the  sun  on  stakes  behind  his 


A  Congo  Cow  (goat) 


INTO  A  FORBIDDEN  COUNTRY  97 

house,  invited  me  to  go  with  him  to  kill  elephants. 
We  had  not  gone  a  half  mile  into  the  deep  forest 
before  we  heard  the  trumpeting  of  an  elephant 
nearby.  The  chief  beckoned  me  to  follow  him*  but 
suddenly  there  was  a  crash  of  falling  dead  trees  and 
the  elephants,  perhaps  a  hundred  or  more,  came  like 
a  cyclone  thundering  by.  We  crouched  behind  a  very 
large  tree  and  let  them  go  on  their  stormy  way  re- 
joicing. When  we  had  recovered  sufficiently  from 
our  fright  we  turned  homeward.  Before  reaching 
the  village  we  shot  a  large  black  monkey  weighing 
about  forty  pounds.  There  was  enough  meat  for  the 
chief,  my  men  and  myself,  so  we  all  enjoyed  a  good 
supper. 

THEY  STOLE  MY  POCKET-BOOK. — The  next  morning 
I  said  to  the  chief  that  I  would  like  to  move  on  to  the 
next  market  place.  So  he  replied,  "Ngexa"  (tomor- 
row) .  That  very  night  while  all  were  quietly  sleep- 
ing my  half  load  of  money  (cowrie  shells)  was  stolen 
from  my  tent.  Early  in  the  morning  I  sent  for  the 
chief  and  told  him  of  my  loss,  and  I  ventured  more. 
I  told  him  I  would  have  my  money  or  he  would  have 
trouble.  The  chief  soon  had  his  head  men  together 
under  a  large  open  shed  and  they  deliberated  for 
about  three  hours.  When  night  came  on,  the  chief 
came  with  the  lost  money  and  asked  me  not  to  make 
any  trouble  about  it,  for  already  the  women  and  chil- 
dren were  frightened.  We  were  detained  here  at 
M'boma  for  twenty-nine  days,  but  I  had  the  pleasure 
of  preaching,  praying  and  singing  for  them  in  their 
tongue  daily. 


98  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

DOWN-HEARTED  AND  DEPRESSED. — I  longed  for  the 
trail  which  would  lead  toward  King  Lukenga.  But 
no  one,  not  even  for  money,,  would  assist  us.  Wear- 
ied, tired,  perplexed,  really  at  an  end,  I  took  my  camp 
stool  and  went  outside  of  the  village  and  into  the 
quiet  forest  and  sat  down  to  muse  and  pray.  Alone 
with  God,  no  friend,  no  companion,  no  one.  Alone ! 
Alone!  I  cried  like  my  heart  would  break.  I  re- 
turned to  the  village,  walking  almost  like  a  drunken 
man.  I  paced  up  and  down  before  my  tent  as  a 
chained  captive. 

A  SOUND  OF  ALARM. — "Oka!"  "Oka!"  rang  out  a 
very  loud  voice  from  one  of  the  villagers,  and  I,  too, 
stopped  and  listened,  as  did  all  the  people,  and  peer- 
ing down  one  of  the  many  narrow  trails  a  group  ot 
travelers  were  standing.  They  called  to  the  vil- 
lagers, who  they  were,  where  they  were  from,  and 
where  they  were  going.  And  in  a  moment  they  dis- 
appeared down  through  a  ravine.  I  asked  the  man 
nearest  to  me,  "Who  are  they?"  He  whispered, 
"King  Lukenga's  trading  men,  on  their  way  to  the 
capital." 

N'GOMA,  "THE  LION-HEARTED." — Not  to  excite 
the  people,  I  withdrew  gently  and  called  N'goma,  my 
head  man.  We  went  behind  a  house  and  I  explained 
as  rapidly  and  as  impressively  as  possible  of  the  men 
who  had  just  passed  and  the  direction  they  took.  I 
asked,  laying  my  hand  on  N'goma's  bare  back,  "Is 
your  heart  strong?"  He  answered  promptly  and 
like  a  man  of  war,  "It  is  strong."  "Have  you  any 
fear  in  your  heart?"  N'goma  looked  me  square  in 


INTO  A  FORBIDDEN  COUNTRY  99 

the  eye  and  said,  "I  have  no  fear."  "N'goma,"  said 
I,  "follow  those  men's  tracks  over  the  soft  sand,  fol- 
low them !  foUow  them!  Make  a  cross  mark  in  all  of 
the  off  trails  and  don't  come  back.  I  charge  you, 
N'goma,  don't  return,  for  I  will  follow  your  trail 
at  once  with  the  caravan." 

N'GOMA  HITS  A  TRAIL. — N'goma,  with  spear  in 
hand,  bare  head,  bare  feet,  bare  back,  save  his  loin 
cloth  and  his  small  pouch  of  cowrie  shells,  walked 
quietly  out  of  the  village,  but  when  he  struck  the 
trail  he  was  gone  like  an  arrow  shot  from  a  bow. 
When  we  began  to  take  down  the  tent  and  make 
preparation  for  moving,  the  villagers  gathered 
around,  touching  each  other  and  talking  in  a  low 
voice. 

THE  VILLAGERS  PROTEST. — Hong  N'joka,  the 
chief,  and  Bope  N'gola  Minge,  my  friend,  asked 
what  I  was  going  to  do,  and  where  I  was  going.  I 
explained  to  them  that  I  was  going  to  visit  some  oth- 
er towns.  They  protested,  but  to  no  effect,  and  stood 
wondering  what  to  say  or  do  while  we  moved  quietly 
out  and  away. 

THEY  ARE  CALMED  BY  A  CALL. — Fortunately  for 
us,  there  was  no  rain,  and  we  followed  N'goma's 
trail  and  signs  for  two  days  and  came  upon  him  in 
a  village  called  Bixibing.  As  we  marched  in  the 
people  were  frightened  and  ran  to  the  bush,  but  I 
called  to  them  in  a  loud  voice  in  their  tongue, 
"Ko-cinaka!  Ko-cinaka!'*'  (Be  not  afraid!  Be  not 
afraid!)  They  returned  and  settled  down. 

WELCOMED  BY  THE  CHIEF.— The  chief,   Kueta, 


100  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

came  and  saluted  me,  but  his  people  remained  aloof. 
We  congratulated  faithful  N'goma,  put  up  the  tent, 
and  made  ourselves  at  home.  N'goma  explained  that 
it  was  not  possible  to  follow  the  king's  men  further, 
as  they  threatened  his  life  and  took  to  the  forest. 

KUETA  SERVES  A  BANQUET. — In  the  afternoon 
Chief  Kueta  came,  accompanied  by  some  of  the  first 
men  of  the  town,  the  judge,  a  lawyer,  a  witch  doc- 
tor and  the  town's  blacksmith,  and  presented  me 
with  about  twenty  bushels  of  corn,  five  chickens,  a 
very  large  goat,  a  ham  of  a  wild  boar,  a  basket  of 
sweet  potatoes,  a  big  basket  of  blackeyed  peas,  dried 
fish,  bananas,  plaintains,  pineapples,  a  small  basket 
of  field  mushrooms,  and  five  jugs  of  water. 

TURN  BACK,  WAS  THE  WORD  OP  THE  CHIEF.— -The 
chief  said,  in  his  Bakuba  tongue.  "Here  is  something 
for  you  and  your  people  to  eat,  and  there  is  the  big 
shed  under  which  you  and  your  people  can  sleep. 
Tell  them  they  must  not  steal,  nor  interfere  with 
the  women  and  children,  and  ngexa  (tomorrow)  you 
must  go  back  the  way  you  have  come." 

SHOWED  MYSEF  FRIENDLY. — In  turn  I  thanked 
them  and  presented  my  usual  present.  I  made  my- 
self free  in  the  village,  walked  up  this  street  and 
down  the  other,  saluted  this  man  and  that  woman, 
and  tried  to  play  with  the  little  children,  but  they 
were  shy.  I  bought  six  beautifully  carved  ebony 
drinking  cups,  then  went  to  the  blacksmith's  shop, 
where  there  was  a  crowd  of  half -clad  young  men 
watching  the  smith  make  sparks  fly.  The  smith 
was  working  on  a  hoe. 


INTO  A  FORBIDDEN  COUNTRY         101 

THE  PEOPLE  WORK  IN  IRON  AND  COPPER. — The 
people  gathered  most  of  their  iron  from  the  top  bar- 
ren hills  or  from  sluggish  streams  in  a  deep  ravine. 
It  settles  thickly  on  the  surface  of  the  water,  and  al- 
though red,  it  looks  very  much  like  moss.  The  na- 
tive oven  or  small  furnace  was  nearby  where  the  ore 
is  smelted  into  iron. 

When  we  began  to  sing  a  large  crowd  settled  down 
on  the  ground  around  us. 

STEADY,  CONSERVATIVE  FARMERS. — These  people 
are  different  in  appearance,  physique  and  manner 
from  the  Bakete.  They  retire  to  their  houses  and 
couches  early.  They  are  strong,  healthy  farmers. 
We  passed  en  route  a  very  large  corn  field  with 
stalks  towering  far  above  our  heads.  The  villagers 
told  me  that  they  raised  fifty  and  sixty  bushels  of 
corn  to  the  acre,  and  two  crops  a  year. 

'TELLING    THE    STORY    OVER   AGAIN/' — The    next 

morning  early,  before  the  people  started  for  their 
fields  or  their  traps,  I  called  them  together  and  had 
singing  and  prayer  and  a  full,  long  talk  on  the  fall  of 
Adam  and  how  Christ  came  to  restore  us  to  God's 
favor.  The  people  heard  every  word  I  said  and 
seemed  so  interested,  but  I  fear  they  understood  not, 
for  they  had  never  heard  that  kind  of  a  story  before. 

SHOOTING  GUINEA  FOWL.— I  told  the  chief  that  I 
heard  guinea  fowl  in  the  bushes,  and  I  was  going  out 
for  them  and  not  to  be  alarmed  when  he  heard  a  big 
noise  from  my  gun.  The  people  had  never  seen  or 
heard  a  gun. 

In  less  than  half  an  hour  I  returned  with  four 


102  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

guinea  fowl.  I  presented  Chief  Kueta  with  two  of 
them.  He  was  frightened,  but  accepted  them. 

MAKING  A  BIG  ROAD. — I  asked  where  the  people 
brought  their  drinking  water  from,  for  they  had  no 
wells  or  springs.  With  two  of  my  men  we  followed 
the  narrow  winding  trail  down  through  the  forest  to 
a  small  stream.  We  returned  and  I  suggested  to  the 
chief  the  advantages  of  a  big,  broad  road  to  the  wa- 
ter. He  agreed.  Calling  twenty  of  my  men  and 
furnishing  them  with  big  working  knives  (match- 
ets) ,  we  began  cutting  the  underbrush  and  soon  had 
a  splendid  open  road  all  the  way  down  nearly  a  half 
mile.  We  all  had  a  refreshing  bath  in  the  cool 
stream.  I  knew  that  these  people  later  on  would  see 
the  advantages  of  an  open  road,  for  the  heavy  dew 
on  the  bushes  and  grass  on  chilly  mornings  was  not 
pleasant,  and,  too,  the  many  snakes  could  be  seen  be- 
fore running  upon  them. 

JIGGER  PICKING. — Our  feet  were  now  so  clean  we 
all  sat  down  on  the  bank  and  began  to  take  out  the 
little  pests — the  jiggers.  They  are  just  like  a  tiny 
flea  and  burrow  under  your  toe  nails  and  sometimes 
finger  nails,  lay  eggs,  and  set  up  an  irritation  which 
causes  you  to  fret  and  fuss.  They  give  you  fits  and 
fevers.  The  toes  of  many  natives  are  eaten  off  by 
them. 

A  BIG  SUPPER. — My  men  were  pretty  hungry  after 
the  hard  day's  work,  so  they  put  their  cowrie  shells 
(money)  together  and  bought  two  dogs,  killed  them, 
and  made  enough  stew  well  seasoned  with  palm  oil 
and  red  pepper  for  the  whole  party. 


INTO  A  FORBIDDEN  COUNTRY         103 

DOGS  NEVER  BARK. — These  dogs  look  like  an  ordi- 
nary cur,  with  but  little  hair  on  them,  and  they  nev- 
er bark  or  bite.  I  asked  the  people  to  explain  why 
their  dogs  didn't  bark.  So  they  told  me  that  once 
they  did  bark,  but  long  ago  the  dogs  and  leopards 
had  a  big  fight,  the  dogs  whipped  the  leopards,  and 
after  that  the  leopards  were  very  mad,  so  the  moth- 
ers of  the  little  dogs  told  them  not  to  bark  any  more, 
and  they  hadn't  barked  since. 

The  natives  tie  wooden  bells  around  their  dogs  to 
know  where  they  are.  Every  man  knows  the  sound 
of  his  bell  just  as  we  would  know  the  bark  of  our 
dog. 

ANOTHER  WARNING. — Chief  Kueta  came  to  me 
early  the  third  morning  and  said  in  gestures  which 
bespoke  earnestness  and  uneasiness,  "Foreigner, 
you  can't  stop  here."  So  I  said  to  Kueta,  "Well, 
why?"  "It  is  against  the  word  of  our  king,"  said 
he.  "You  must  return  the  way  you  came,"  and  he 
continued :  "Not  only  will  we  be  killed,  but  you  and 
all  your  people." 

I  settled  down  in  my  chair  to  think  seriously  over 
matters. 

THE  KING'S  FIGHTING  MEN  ARE  COMING. — In  less 
than  two  hours  from  the  time  of  my  warning  the 
town  was  in  an  uproar.  The  king's  trading  men, 
who  had  threatened  my  man  N'goma,  had  reached 
the  capital  and  reported  to  King  Lukenga  having 
seen  a  foreigner  on  the  road  moving  in  his  direction, 
and  the  king  had  sent  down  his  specially  picked 
fighting  men  to  intercept,  fight,  and  drive  me  back. 


104  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

I  sat  quietly  in  my  seat  in  front  of  the  tent  and 
watched  the  people  in  their  flight  for  the  forest.  My 
people  began  to  gather  around  my  chair,  and  the 
youngest  of  the  caravan,  N'susu,  nestled  on  his  knees 
very  close  to  me.  The  king's  people  were  now  in  full 
sight  standing  at  attention  near  to  the  big  shed.  The 
leading  man  with  his  big  spear  called  in  a  voice  that 
rang  through  the  village,  "Now  hear  the  words  of 
King  Lukenga :  Because  you  have  entertained  a  for- 
eigner in  your  village,  we  have  come  to  take  you  to 
the  capital  for  trial." 

PLEADING  FOR  CHIEF  KUETA. — I  knew  things  were 
now  serious,  so  rising  from  my  seat  I  called  to  the 
head  man  to  meet  me  half  way.  He  paid  no  atten- 
tion. I  called  a  second  time  and  walked  up  to  him 
and  began  to  plead  for  Chief  Kueta.  "I  understand 
you  are  sent  by  your  king  to  arrest  these  people." 
"It  is  the  word  of  the  king,"  said  he.  I  continued, 
"The  chief  of  this  village  is  not  guilty ;  he  gave  me 
warning  and  told  me  to  go  away,  to  return  the  way 
I  had  come,  and  I  did  not.  It  is  my  fault  and  not 
Kueta's." 

THEY  HEARD. — The  leader,  leaning  on  his  spear, 
replied,  "You  speak  our  language?"  "I  do,"  was  my 
quick  answer.  "That  is  strange,"  said  he.  The  lead- 
er and  his  men  moved  off  some  distance  and  talked 
between  themselves.  In  a  little  while  he  came  back 
to  me  saying,  "I  will  return  to  the  capital  and  report 
these  things  to  the  king." 

MY  MESSAGE  TO  THE  KING. — I  said  to  him,  "Tell 
your  king  I  am  not  a  bad  man ;  I  do  not  steal  nor 


INTO  A  FORBIDDEN  COUNTRY         105 

kill;  I  have  a  message  for  him.  Wait  a  moment/' 
said  I.  Taking  from  one  of  my  boxes  a  very  large 
cowrie  shell,  near  the  size  of  one's  fist,  and  holding 
it  up,  I  said,  "This  we  call  the  father  of  cowries; 
present  it  to  the  king  as  a  token  of  friendship." 

HE  WAS  THE  KING'S  SON. — The  men  were  soon  off 
for  the  capital  and  we  settled  down,  hoping  and 
praying  for  the  best.  Kueta  told  me  that  the  head 
man  was  King  Lukenga's  son  and  his  name  was 
N'Toinzide. 

N'Toinzide  stood  more  than  six  feet,  of  bronze  col- 
or, blind  in  one  eye,  determined  set  lips,  and  seemed 
a  man  fearless  of  any  foe — man  or  beast.  The  vil- 
lagers told  me  many  things  of  the  king's  son,  both 
good  and  bad. 

ALL  VERY  QUIET. — The  natives  sat  around  on  the 
ground  in  groups,  and  so  did  my  own  people,  dis- 
cussing the  perplexing  situation.  I  lost  my  appetite, 
my  interest  in  hunting  and  the  villagers,  but  that 
very  depression  and  dejection  brought  me  nearer  to 
my  Lord. 

MY  PRAYER. — 0  Master,  thou  who  art  everywhere 
and  who  hast  all  power,  govern  the  heart  of  King 
Lukenga,  and  may  there  be  opened  a  road  for  thy 
gospel  into  the  very  heart  of  this  dark  land. 

THE  MESSENGERS  REACH  THE  CAPITAL. — After 
some  days  the  messengers  reached  the  capital  and 
reported  to  King  Lukenga.  "We  saw  the  foreigner, 
he  speaks  our  language,  he  knows  all  the  trails  of 
the  country." 


106  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

THE  KING  CALLS  His  COUNCIL. — The  king  was  as- 
tonished and  called  a  council  and  laid  the  matter  be- 
fore them.  They  deliberated  over  the  affair  and 
finally  told  the  king  that  they  knew  who  I  was. 

THOUGHT  THEY  KNEW  ME. — "The  foreigner  who 
is  at  Bixibing,"  said  they,  "who  has  come  these  long 
trails  and  who  speaks  our  language  is  a  Makuba, 
one  of  the  early  settlers  who  died,  and  whose  spirit 
went  to  a  foreign  country  and  now  he  has  returned." 

The  messengers  hastened  to  return  and  accom- 
pany me  to  the  capital. 

I  HEARD  THE  MESSAGE. — We  had  been  longing  and 
praying  for  days  for  the  best.  With  the  king's  spec- 
ial envoy  were  many  more  men  who  haad  come 
through  mere  curiosity,  as  was  their  custom. 

N'Toinzide  stood  in  the  center  of  the  town  and 
called  with  his  loud  voice  saying  who  I  was  and  giv- 
ing briefly  my  history. 

The  villagers  were  indeed  happy.  They  flocked 
around  as  the  king's  son  drew  near  and  extended 
their  hands  to  me. 

DENIED  THE  SUPERSTITION. — I  arose  from  my 
chair  and  made  these  remarks :  "I  have  heard  dis- 
tinctly all  that  you  have  said,  but  I  am  not  a  Ma- 
kuba ;  I  have  never  been  here  before." 

THEY  KNEW  ME  BETTER  THAN  I  KNEW  MYSELF. — 
N'Toinzide  insisted  that  they  were  right,  and  said 
that  his  father,  the  king,  wanted  me  to  come  on  at 
once  to  the  capital.  The  people  were  mighty  happy, 
Kueta,  our  host,  the  townspeople  and  my  people,  too. 
Their  appetites  came  back,  and  so  did  mine. 


INTO  A  FORBIDDEN  COUNTRY         107 

With  a  hasty  good-bye,  "Zala  hola,"  to  Kueta,  we 
were  off. 

A  BEAUTIFUL  COUNTRY. — The  trail  lay  northeast 
by  north  with  a  gradual  ascent.  The  country  was 
well  wooded  and  watered.  No  stones  could  be  seen 
anywhere,  and  the  soil  was  sandy.  There  were  many 
extensive  plains  with  magnificent  palm  trees,  hun- 
dreds and  thousands  of  them  ranging  from  a  foot 
high,  which  the  elephants  fed  upon,  to  those  fifty 
and  sixty  feet  high.  The  forest  everywhere  was 
ever  green.  Trees  blossomed  and  bloomed,  sending 
out  upon  the  gentle  breeze  their  fragrance  so  accep- 
table to  the  traveler.  Festoons  of  moss  and  running 
vines  made  the  forest  look  like  a  beautifully  painted 
theatre  or  an  enormous  swinging  garden. 

MUXIHU  is  DROWNING. — About  five  miles  on  our 
way  we  came  to  the  deep,  swift  stream  called  the 
"Langala."  A  great  tree  had  been  cut  down  by  the 
natives  and  they  directed  its  fall  across  the  stream 
and  used  it  for  a  bridge.  Muxihu  was  following  in 
the  middle  of  the  caravan  with  his  forty  pound  bag 
of  cowrie  shells  tied  on  his  head,  a  cord  passing  over 
the  bag  and  tied  under  his  chin.  He  lost  his  balance 
and  fell.  The  heavy  load  took  him  full  speed  on  his 
head  to  the  bottom  of  the  river  and  the  caravan  put 
up  an  awful  scream  for  help.  I  had  crossed,  but  ran 
back  at  once  and  stood.  It  seemed  long  before  Mux- 
ihu appeared  on  the  surface,  then  he  struggled  and 
sank  again.  Then  I  leaped  from  the  bridge  and 
swam  in  Muxihu's  direction.  As  he  arose  again  I 


108  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

had  him  by  his  two  wrists  and  turned  on  my  back 
and  swam  with  him  to  the  bank. 

We  were  some  distance  down  and  some  of  my  men 
made  their  way  through  the  thick  undergrowth  and 
helped  us  to  climb  the  bank.  N'Goma  and  Mumpuya 
could  swim  and  dive,  so  they  volunteered  to  dive  for 
the  pocketbook,  and  in  an  hour  they  had  it  and  we 
started  off  again. 

ON  THE  KING'S  HIGHWAY. — We  passed  through 
two  villages  and  camped  in  the  third.  We  had  no 
trouble  in  finding  our  way,  nor  was  the  way  ob- 
structed by  the  villagers,  and  we  had  plenty  of  food 
and  were  in  good  company. 

En  route  from  "Bixibing"  we  passed  under  many 
"charms,"  in  appearance  like  a  very  large  hornet's 
nest.  These  charms  were  suspended  over  the  road 
by  a  string  tied  to  a  tall  bamboo  pole  and  the  charm 
was  filled  with  poisonous  arrows,  a  warning  to  those 
who  travel  that  way.  /I  was  attracted  by  a  large 
elephant  tusk  inverted  and  driven  firmly  into  the 
ground  at  the  entrance  of  the  village  court  house,  a 
big  shed.  The  king's  son  informed  me  that  his  fath- 
er had  visited  the  town  and  had  sat  near  that  spot 
and  the  villagers  had  planted  the  ivory  there  in  hon- 
or and  memory  of  his  visit.  On  this  highway  we 
saw  many  fresh  buffalo  tracks  and  also  tracks  of 
deer.  Through  all  the  dense  forest  which  lies  be- 
hind us  we  did  not  see  a  python,  though  we  have 
killed  some  on  the  plains. 

APPROACHING  THE  CAPITAL. — On  the  last  morning 
our  trail  grew  larger,  the  country  more  open,  and 


INTO  A  FORBIDDEN  COUNTRY         109 

the  ascent  greater,  until  we  stood  upon  an  exten- 
sive plain  and  had  a  beautiful  view  in  every  direc- 
tion of  all  the  land  as  far  as  we  could  see. 

THE  CAPITAL  IN  SIGHT. — We  could  see  in  the  dis- 
tance thousands  and  thousands  of  banana  and  palm 
trees  and  our  escort  of  Bakuba  cried  out,  "Mux- 
enge !"  muxenge !"  (meaning  capital !  capital !)  Just 
before  entering  the  great  town  we  were  halted  at  a 
small  guard  post  consisting  of  a  few  houses  and 
some  men  who  were  the  king's  watchmen.  They 
told  me  that  on  each  of  the  four  entrances  to  the 
capital  these  sentries  were  stationed.  A  man  was 
dispatched  to  notify  the  king  that  we  were  near. 
In  a  short  while  the  people  came  out  of  the  town  to 
meet  and  greet  us,  hundreds  of  them,  and  many  lit- 
tle children,  too.  Some  of  my  caravan  were  fright- 
ened and  would  run  away,  but  I  told  them  that  the 
oncoming  crowd  meant  no  harm. 

N'Toinzide,  the  king's  son,  with  spear  in  hand, 
took  the  lead  and  the  interested  and  excited  crowd 
after  getting  a  peep  at  me  fell  in  behind. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

AT  LUKENGA'S  CAPITAL. 

REALLY  A  GREAT  TOWN. — We  marched  down  a 
broad,  clean  street,  lined  on  both  sides  by  interested 
spectators  jostling,  gesticulating,  talking  loud  and 
laughing.  The  young  boys  and  girls  struck  up  a  song 
which  sounded  to  me  like  a  band  of  sweet  music  and 
we  all  kept  step  by  it.  N'Toinzide  called  a  halt  at  a 
house  which  I  presume  was  15x25  feet  in  size.  You 
could  enter  the  doors  front  and  back  almost  without 
stooping.  The  house  was  made  like  all  the  others  of 
bamboo  and  had  two  rooms.  There  were  a  number 
of  clay  pots  of  various  sizes  for  cooking  and  six 
large  gourds  for  water.  My  caravan  was  comforta- 
bly housed.  I  did  not  put  up  my  tent,  but  took  my 
seat  in  a  reclining  chair  under  a  large  palm  tree  in 
front  of  my  door.  The  crowd  was  immense,  but  we 
had  them  to  sit  down  on  the  ground  so  we  could  get 
a  breath  of  air. 

THE  KING  SENDS  GREETINGS. — In  the  afternoon 
the  king  sent  greetings,  and  with  it  fourteen  goats, 
six  sheep,  a  number  of  chickens,  corn,  pumpkins, 
large  dried  fish,  bushels  of  peanuts,  bunches  of  ba- 
nanas and  plantains  and  a  calabash  of  palm  oil  and 
other  food. 

The  prime  minister,  N'Dola,  who  brought  the 
greeting!,  mentioned  that  the  king  would  see  me 

110 


AT  LUKENGA'S  CAPITAL  111 

next  day;  also  that  the  king's  servants  would  take 
out  of  the  village  all  goats  and  chickens  which  I  did 
not  want  for  immediate  use. 

No  ANIMALS  IN  TOWN. — For,  said  N'Dola,  no 
sheep,  goats,  hogs,  dogs,  ducks  or  chickens  are  allow- 
ed in  the  king's  town. 

WE  DELIVERED  OUR  MASTER'S  MESSAGE. — In  the 
evening  we  started  our  song  service  and  I  delivered 
to  them  our  King's  message.  The  crowd  was  great. 
The  order  was  good.  I  went  to  rest  with  the  burden 
of  these  people  upon  my  heart,  and  thanking  God 
that  He  had  led,  protected,  and  brought  us  through 
close  places  safely  to  the  "Forbidden  Land." 

A  GRAND  AFFAIR. — Early  in  the  morning  we  heard 
the  blast  of  ivory  horns  calling  the  attention  of  the 
people  to  put  on  their  best  robes  and  be  in  readiness 
for  the  big  parade.  I  saw  there  was  great  activity 
in  the  town,  men  and  women  hurrying  to  and  fro. 
Soon  two  stalwart  Bakuba  with  their  red  kilts  on 
and  feathers  in  their  hats  appeared  before  my  house 
and  announced  their  readiness  to  accompany  me  be- 
fore King  Lukenga. 

They  noticed  an  old  brass  button  tied  by  a  string 
around  the  neck  of  one  of  my  men.  Very  politely 
they  removed  it,  saying,  "Only  the  king  can  wear 
brass  or  copper." 

I  was  dressed  in  what  had  once  been  white  linen. 
Coat,  trousers,  white  canvas  shoes  and  pith  helmet. 
The  officials  on  either  side  took  me  by  the  arm ;  we 
walked  a  block  up  the  broad  street,  turned  to  the 


112  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

right  and  walked  three  blocks  till  we  came  to  the  big 
town  square.  Thousands  of  the  villagers  had  al- 
ready taken  their  position  and  were  seated  on  the 
green  grass.  King  Lukenga,  his  high  officials  and 
about  300  of  his  wives  occupied  the  eastern  section 
of  the  square.  The  players  of  stringed  instruments 
and  drummers  were  in  the  center,  and  as  we  appear- 
ed a  great  shout  went  up  from  the  people.  The  king's 
servants  ran  and  spread  leopard  skins  along  the 
ground  leading  to  his  majesty.  I  approached  with 
some  timidity.  The  king  arose  from  his  throne  of 
ivory,  stretched  forth  his  hand  and  greeted  me  with 
these  words,  "Wyni"  (You  have  come).  I  bowed 
low,  clapped  my  hands  in  front  of  me,  and  answered, 
"Ndini.  Nyimi"  (I  have  come,  king). 

THE  ROYAL  DANCE. — As  the  drums  beat  and  the 
harps  played  the  king's  sons  entered  the  square  and 
danced  one  after  the  other  single  handed,  brandish- 
ing their  big  knives  in  the  air.  The  king's  great 
chair,  or  throne*  was  made  of  carved  tusks  of  ivory, 
and  his  feet  rested  upon  lion  skins.  I  judged  him 
to  have  been  a  little  more  than  six  feet  high  and  with 
his  crown,  which  was  made  of  eagle  feathers,  he 
towered  over  all.  The  king's  dress  consisted  of  a  red 
loin  cloth,  draped  neatly  about  his  waist  in  many 
folds.  He  wore  a  broad  belt  decorated  with  cowrie 
shells  and  beads.  His  armlets  and  anklets  were 
made  of  polished  cowrie  shells  reaching  quite  above 
the  wrists  and  ankles.  These  decorations  were  beau- 
tifully white.  His  feet  were  painted  with  powdered 
camwood,  resembling  morocco  boots.  The  king 


Dr.  Sheppard  and  his  Church  at  Ibanje. 


AT  LUKENGA'S  CAPITAL  113 

weighed  about  200  pounds.  He  wore  a  pleasant 
gmile.  He  looked  to  be  eighty  years  old,  but  he  was 
as  active  as  a  middle-aged  man. 

TRYING  TO  CLEAR  THE  KING'S  MIND. — When  we 
had  sat  for  an  hour  without  further  conversation, 
with  only  now  and  then  a  smile  or  a  gentle  laugh 
from  him  as  the  dancers  amused  and  pleased  him,  I 
ventured  to  clear  up  the  superstition  which  was  be- 
tween us.  I  leaned  from  my  seat  toward  King  Lu- 
kenga  and  getting  his  attention  said  briefly,  "I  un- 
derstand, king,  that  your  people  believe  me  to  be  a 
Makuba  who  once  lived  here."  The  king  replied 
with  a  smile,  "N'Gaxa  Mi"  (It  is  true) .  "I  want  to 
acknowledge  to  you,"  said  I,  "that  I  am  not  a  Ma- 
kuba, and  I  have  never  been  here  before."  The  king 
leaned  over  the  arm  of  his  great  chair  and  said  with 
satisfaction,  "You  don't  know  it,  but  you  are  'Mu- 
ana  Mi"  (one  of  the  family) . 

AT  THE  CLOSE  OF  THE  DAY. — As  the  sun  was  set- 
ting in  the  west  the  king  stood  up,  made  a  slight 
bow  to  his  people  and  to  me.  His  slaves  were  ready 
with  his  cowrie  studded  hammock  to  take  him  to 
his  palace,  for  his  feet  must  never  touch  the  ground. 
His  hammock  was  like  the  body  of  a  buggy  carried 
on  two  long  poles  upon  the  shoulders  of  many  men. 
Through  the  shouts  of  the  people  I  was  accompanied 
back  to  my  resting  place.  It  was  the  most  brilliant 
affair  I  had  seen  in  Africa,  but  my!  I  was  so  glad 
when  it  was  all  over. 

SINGING  THEIR  KING  TO  SLEEP. — Mumpuya,  my 
cook,  had  prepared  a  splendid  supper  of  chicken 


114  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

fried  with  palm  oil,  fried  plantains  and  some  tender 
roasting  ears.  I  was  both  tired  and  hungry. 

About  7  o'clock  NToinzide,  with  a  few  of  his 
friends,  came  to  ask  me  to  go  with  them  to  hear  the 
king's  wives  sing  him  to  sleep.  In  a  little  while  we 
were  there  and  stood  quietly  on  the  outside  of  the 
king's  high  enclosure.  Their  voices  were  musical 
and  sweet,  though  I  could  only  catch  a  word  now  and 
then.  The  words  "Nyimi,  Obetcaka"  and  "Ndimu- 
ka"  (king,  sleep  and  love)  were  very  distinct.  I  was 
pleased  that  the  people  were  so  happy  with  their 
king.  But  the  thought  that  brought  me  to  tears  was, 
would  these  people  here  and  at  Luebo,  and  the  thou- 
sands between,  ever  gather  in  groups  for  singing 
to  our  King  and  adore  him  in  family  prayer? 

ROYALTY  NEVER  BEGS. — We  returned  to  camp. 
N'Toinzide  intimated  if  it  was  convenient  and  for 
me  not  to  think  he  would  beg,  to  give  him  a  little  for- 
eign salt,  some  shells,  beads  and  enough  foreign  cloth 
to  put  around  his  bare  shoulders,  I  gave  it  with 
pleasure.  Before  leaving  he  asked  if  I  had  another 
of  those  very  large  shells  which  I  had  sent  his  fath- 
er. I  found  one. 

SEEING  THE  KING'S  PALACE. — Early  the  next 
morning  I  sent  for  N'Toinzide,  and  together  we  went 
to  see  the  king.  After  reaching  the  first  great  en- 
closure, through  which  no  one  can  see  and  none  can 
climb  over,  N'Toinzide  gave  several  taps  at  a  small 
wicker  window  high  up.  A  curtain  was  drawn,  a 
few  words  were  whispered,  and  we  walked  on  be- 
yond until  we  came  to  a  narrow  entrance  which  had 


AT  LUKENGA'S  CAPITAL  115 

been  opened  by  N'Toinzide's  brother.  We  passed  In 
and  the  door  was  shut  and  barred.  We  then  passed 
through  three  more  gates  and  waited.  In  a  little 
while  we  were  escorted  through  a  double  doorway, 
the  side  posts  of  which  were  beautifully  carved. 

AN  INTERVIEW  WITH  THE  KING. — The  king  in  or- 
dinary costume  was  seated  on  a  low  stool  and  we 
were  seated  on  a  large,  exquisitely  woven  mat.  The 
king  greeted  us  with  "Wyni"  (You  have  come) .  We 
both  leaned  forward  and  clapping  our  hands  twice 
repeated  together,  "Ndini"  (We  have  come) .  Dur- 
ing all  the  interview  we  clapped  our  hands  after  ev- 
ery sentence.  If  the  king  coughed  we  coughed,  if  he 
sneezed  we  sneezed.  N'Toinzide's  wife,  Mbiwata, 
came  in  and  sat  with  us,  and  so  did  the  king's  princi- 
pal wife.  Two  slaves  on  their  knees  supported  the 
king's  back. 

THE  MESSAGE. — After  some  preliminaries  I  tola 
the  king  of  my  coming  to  his  land  with  a  splendid 
young  white  man  whom  the  Bakete  named  N'Toman- 
jela — "a  path  finder."  The  king,  anxious  that  I 
should  know  his  vast  possessions,  interrupted  me 
and  said,  "I  heard  of  him,  he  was  at  Luebo,  and 
those  people  down  there  are  my  subjects."  He  con- 
tinued, "I  have  more  people,  the  Bankumbuya,  Bax- 
alele  and  Banginda  are  mine."  Certainly  I  thanked 
him  for  the  information  and  continued  my  story. 
"N'Tomanjela  taught  the  little  children  how  to  mark 
on  the  ground  what  they  were  thinking  in  their 
heads.  He  taught  them  also  about  the  Great  Spirit, 
a  great  King.  This  King  made  everything — the 


116  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

trees,  the  rivers,  the  elephants,  the  ants,  the  sun,  the 
moon  and  stars.  This  King  made  everything.  I  had 
the  king's  attention,  so  I  continued.  "This  young 
man  NTomanjela  died  and  was  buried  and  his  spirit 
went  back  to  the  Great  King.  So  I  have  come  alone, 
and  my  real  purpose  here  is  to  tell  you  of  the  Great 
King  and  have  your  full  permission  to  tell  about 
Him  everywhere/' 

King  Lukenga  instead  of  asking  questions  about 
this  King,  as  I  really  supposed  he  would  do,  leaned 
toward  me,  smiled,  and  said,  "It  is  all  right ;  you  can 
tell  it  everywhere,  but  you  can't  leave  the  capital; 
you  must  stay  here." 

As  we  bowed  out  and  away  I  thanked  God  that  the 
king's  heart  was  in  His  own  hand,  and  that  Mr. 
Lapsley's  long  desire  had  been  accomplished. 

LUKENGA  OLD  AND  GRAY. — Lukenga,  though  old 
and  gray-haired,  was  strong  and  normal  in  all  of  his 
faculties.  I  have  seen  here  a  hundred  or  more  gray- 
headed  men  and  women.  A  long-lived  people. 

THE  KING'S  LIVING  ROOM. — There  were,  I  pre- 
sume, more  than  a  hundred  bamboo  houses  in  the 
king's  private  compound  for  his  wives,  sons,  daugh- 
ters and  slaves. 

The  wives  are  the  ones  who  sing  him  to  sleep  and 
sing  him  up  in  the  morning  with  appropriate  songs. 

The  spacious  living  room  is  where  the  king  holds 
his  private  council  and  palavers.  The  walls  are  cov- 
ered with  smoothly  woven  mats  like  thick  wall  paper. 
The  rafters  are  held  up  by  massive  artistically 


AT  LUKENGA'S  CAPITAL  11T 

carved  pillars  of  mahogany.  The  clay  floor  is  cov- 
ered with  mats,  except  a  small  space  where  a  slow 
fire  burns  continually. 

STATUES  OP  FOUR  KINGS. — On  an  elevation  were 
statues  of  four  former  kings.  These  statues  were 
carved  from  ebony.  They  were  highly  prized  and 
regarded  as  sacred. 

One  of  them  represented  King  Xamba  Bulngunga. 
On  his  lap  was  something  like  a  checker  board.  King 
Xamba's  dearest  amusement  was  in  playing  this  na- 
tive game. 

Another  had  a  blacksmith's  anvil  before  him,  for 
he  loved  the  art  of  blacksmithing. 

A  great  national  dispute  came  between  Xamba 
and  another  supposed  heir  to  the  throne.  The  dif- 
ferent factions  had  fought  and  still  the  matter  was 
not  settled.  So  it  was  agreed  that  the  two  contes- 
tants make  iron  axes  and  proceed  to  the  lake  nearby 
and  the  one  whose  axe  floated  would  be  counted  king. 
Xamba  (so  they  said)  made  his  axe  out  of  wood  and 
covered  it  with  thin  iron.  On  the  day  of  the  test 
before  thousands  of  anxious  disputers  the  axes  with 
befitting  ceremony  were  thrown  into  the  lake. 
Xamba's  axe  floated,  and  while  the  people  shouted 
and  fought,  Xamba  was  borne  on  the  shoulders  of 
his  strong  men  to  the  capital  and  crowned  king  of 
the  Bakuba. 

BAKUBA  HAVE  No  INDIVIDUAL  IDOL. — I  have  seen 
in  no  Bakuba  village  an  idol.  I  mean  a  large  piece 
of  wood  carved  into  an  image  to  be  dreaded  or 
adored.  The  people  wear  charms  around  their 


118  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

necks,  arms  and  ankles,  and  these  have  their  local 
significance.  A  man  has  his  charm  on  his  wrist  and 
before  eating  with  his  neighbor,  drinking  palm  wine 
or  smoking  a  borrowed  pipe,  he  will  lick  this  small 
charm  to  prevent  any  evil  wish  of  his  neighbor  en- 
tering his  stomach. 

King  Lukenga  offers  up  a  sacrifice  of  a  goat  or 
lamb  on  every  new  moon.  The  blood  is  sprinkled  on 
a  large  idol  in  his  own  fetich  house,  in  the  presence 
of  all  his  counselors.  This  sacrifice  is  for  the  health- 
fulness  of  all  the  king's  country,  for  the  crops,  etc. 

REPLENISHING  MY  POCKETBOOK. — I  sold  a  great 
number  of  small  round  looking  glasses  for  one  hun- 
dred shells  each,  and  could  have  sold  a  thousand  or 
more.  The  women  almost  fought  with  each  other 
for  the  possesion  of  one.  They  had  never  seen 
themselves,  only  dimly  in  a  creek  or  a  small  pot  of 
water  which  served  as  a  mirror.  I  also  had  some 
small  white  and  blue  beads  and  they,  too,  went 
quickly.  A  small  bag  of  buttons,  all  shapes,  sizes  and 
colors,  went  in  a  hurry.  The  people  tied  them  on 
their  necks  and  ankles  for  ornaments. 

As  I  sold  to  the  people,  they  in  turn  brought  arti- 
cles for  sale.  Hoes,  knives,  rugs,  mats,  cloth,  leop- 
ard teeth,  wild  boar  teeth,  live  monkeys,  parrots  and 
other  birds,  eagle  and  aigrette  feathers  and  things 
innumerable. 

HAPPY,  HAPPY  DAYS. — I  asked  the  king  to  have  a 
large  shed  constructed  before  my  door  to  protect  the 
people  from  the  intense  heat,  and  in  a  week's  time  it 
was  up.  Every  morning  it  was  filled  and  overflow- 


AT  LUKENGA'S  CAPITAL  119 

ing  with  these  traders  and  others.  I  preached  the 
gospel  to  them.  We  would  sing  one  or  two  hymns, 
have  prayer,  and  then,  as  slowly  and  simply  as  pos- 
sible I  would  tell  the  new  and  wonderful  story  of 
Jesus.  The  audience  gave  excellent  attention,  no 
moving,  talking  or  laughing;  only  now  and  then  a 
nudge  or  a  significant  glance  at  each  other. 

There  were  many,  many  questions  which  I  had  the 
pleasure  of  answering  after  each  service.  Poor  peo- 
ple, without  home,  without  father,  without  the 
Friend  that  sticketh  closer  than  a  brother. 

THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  BAKUBA. — This  tribe  is  called 
Bakuba  by  all  the  surrounding  tribes,  but  their  real 
name  is  "Buxongo."  The  king's  private  name  is 
Kueta  Mboykin.  Their  tribal  marks  are  tattooed  on 
their  abdomens ;  also  the  two  upper  front  teeth  are 
extracted.  The  marks  are  put  on  by  their  mothers 
and  the  two  front  teeth  are  removed  by  the  black- 
smith. 

From  all  the  information  I  can  gather,  they  mi- 
grated from  the  far  north,  crossed  rivers  and  settled 
on  the  high  table  land.  And  with  many  expeditions 
fought  and  conquered  the  surrounding  tribes. 

Tradition  says  their  first  people,  man  and  woman, 
were  let  down  from  the  skies  by  a  rope,  from  which 
they  untied  themselves  and  the  rope  was  drawn  up. 
These  people  are  conservative  and  very  proud.  There 
are  about  10,000  Bakuba  in  the  capital,  and  it  will 
take  many  journeys  before  we  can  estimate  how 
many  there  are  in  the  whole  tribe.  Their  language 
is  full,  highly  inflected  and  musical.  They  do  not 


120  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

speak  to  the  little  ones  in  "baby  language,"  but  talk 
to  them  just  the  same  as  they  do  their  elders. 

THE  RETURN  OF  CIBAMBI. — One  morning  Cibam- 
bi,  one  of  my  followers,  called  me  aside  privately  and 
said,  "I  am  dying."  I  said  in  surprise,  "Dying! 
What  do  you  mean,  Cibambi  ?"  "I  mean  long  ago  my 
tribe  and  these  people  fought.  We  killed  some  of 
them  and  now  they  have  bewitched  me."  I  talked 
and  reasoned  with  him  of  how  impossible  such  a 
thing  could  be,  but  it  was  useless.  He  spat  upon  the 
ground  a  number  of  times  and  remarked,  "See,  I  am 
spitting  up  my  life.'  I  saw  at  once  it  was  a  case  of 
indigestion  and  gave  him  some  medicine,  explain- 
ing that  he  would  soon  be  well.  But  it  was  to  no 
effect.  He  imagined  that  he  was  bewitched  and  no 
doubt  would  have  pined  away  and  died.  So  I  reluc- 
tantly granted  his  request,  gave  him  money  and  a 
guide,  a  fowl  and  an  old  magazine  as  his  transport 
papers  and  he  started  for  home. 

THEY  SERENADE  Us. — Many  nights  the  Bakuba 
gathered  around  my  house  and  with  harps  and  voices 
made  sweet  music. 

Their  harps  are  something  on  the  order  of  small 
crude  mandolins,  but  they  know  how  to  play  them. 
Around  the  home,  in  the  field,  or  on  a  journey  they 
always  whistle,  hum  or  sing. 

ANOTHER  ROYAL  VISITOR. — Another  son  of  the 
king  came  to  visit  me ;  his  name  was  Maxamalinge. 
He  was  tall,  weighed  about  250,  fine  looking  and  had 
a  splendid  bearing.  On  the  whole,  very  much 
dressed  up  and  very  dignified.  A  number  of  slaves 
accompanied  him. 


Fighting  Axes. 


AT  LUKENGA'S  CAPITAL  121 

After  a  short  talk  he  invited  me  to  go  with  him  to 
his  house  and  have  dinner.  I  was  pleased,  and  to- 
gether we  walked  through  the  town  to  his  own  pri- 
vate home.  His  house  was  surrounded  by  a  number 
of  private  fences.  The  gates  were  closed  behind  us, 
and  no  one  could  see  through ;  there  were  no  cracks. 
His  wife,  Bulengunga,  was  busy  cooking  in  an  adja- 
cent room — a  real  kitchen.  There  were  three  large 
rooms  to  his  house,  a  reception  room,  bed  room  (in 
which  is  also  kept  his  valuables — tusks  of  ivory,  cam 
wood,  and  big  balls  of  copper  and  iron),  and  thp 
kitchen.  The  houses  of  his  slaves  were  just  beyond 
the  first  fence. 

Dinner  was  prepared  for  six,  and  we  &il  sat  down 
on  mats  and  used  our  fingers  eating  f  ron;  the  various 
pots  fresh  fish,  buffalo,  greens  and  corn  nread.  The 
visitors  as  well  as  my  host  and  hostess  i'.sked  quesr 
tion  after  question,  but  it  did  not  preveni  me  from 
enjoying  a  good,  hot  meal. 

A  SNAKE  CHARMER. — One  of  the  servants  sat  at 
the  door  and  amused  us  by  allowing  a  scorpion  to 
crawl  up  and  down  his  naked  arm,  and  he  also  placed 
the  scorpion  under  his  arm  pit.  He  did  many  tricks 
with  the  scorpion.  He  was  also  a  snake  charmer, 
and  no  snake,  tarantula  or  scorpion  would  bite  or 
sting  him. 

THE  KING'S  TOWN.— The  town  was  laid  ofl:  east 
and  west.  The  broad  streets  ran  at  right  angles,  and 
there  were  blocks  just  as  in  any  town.  Thost>  in  a 
block  were  always  related  in  some  way.  Around 
each  house  is  a  court  and  a  high  fence  made  of  heavy 


122  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

matting  of  palm  leaves,  and  around  each  block  there 
is  also  a  high  fence,  so  you  enter  these  homes  by  the 
many  gates.  Each  block  has  a  chief  called  Mbambi, 
and  he  is  responsible  to  King  Lukenga  for  his  block. 
When  the  king  will  deliver  a  message  to  the  whole 
village  or  part  of  it,  these  chiefs  are  sent  for  and 
during  the  early  evenings  they  ring  their  iron  hand 
bells  and  call  out  in  a  loud  voice  the  message  in  five 
minutes.  The  king  desired  of  his  own  heart  to  give 
me  peanuts  for  my  people.  I  heard  the  messengers 
delivering  the  word  and  the  next  morning  we  had 
more  peanuts  than  we  could  manage.  In  some  of 
the  yards  there  were  trees  with  blooming  flowers. 

No  LIGHTS  IN  TOWN. — There  was  not  a  visible 
light  anywhere  in  the  whole  town.  "A  chunk  or 
two"  is  always  kept  smouldering  in  the  center  of  the 
house  on  the  clay  floor.  The  housewife  is  always 
careful  to  have  a  handful  of  split  dry  bamboo  near, 
and  when  anyone  is  stung  by  a  scorpion  or  snake 
(which  often  happens)  they  start  up  a  blaze  and 
hint  for  the  intruder  and  medicine. 

'VVhen  there  is  neither  moon  nor  stars  it  is  truly  a 
land  of  awful  darkness,  and  is  made  more  dismal  by 
the  yelping  of  the  jackals  on  the  plain.  The  moon 
shines  nowhere  more  brightly  and  beautifully  than 
on  Lukenga's  plain.  And  the  beauty  is  enhanced  by 
the  thousands  of  majestic  palms,  and  the  singing  of 
birds  with  voices  like  the  mocking  bird  and  the 
niph^ngale.  I  have  sat  in  front  of  my  house  moon- 
light nights  until  12  and  1  o'clock  listening  to  the 
sweet  singing. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

CUSTOM'S  IN  LUKENGA'S  LAND. 

A  CLEAN  VILLAGE. — Every  morning  the  "courts" 
and  streets  were  swept.  Men  who  had  committed 
some  offence  were  compelled  to  pull  weeds  and  sweep 
the  streets  clean. 

There  is  a  rule  in  all  Bakuba  villages  that  every 
man  every  day  sweep  before  his  own  door.  The  only 
littered  places  I  observed  were  at  the  four  public 
entrances  of  the  town  where  markets  were  held  daily 
at  6  A.  M.,  12  noon  and  5  P.  M. — sugar  cane  pulp, 
bananas  and  plantain  peelings,  and  peanut  shells. 

When  the  king's  drum  taps  the  signal  about  9  P. 
M.,  at  the  conclusion  of  the  sleep  song  there  is  not  a 
sound  again  in  the  whole  village. 

AN  HONEST  PEOPLE. — All  the  natives  we  have  met 
in  the  Kasai  are,  on  the  whole,  honest.  Our  private 
dwellings  have  never  been  locked  day  or  night.  Your 
pocketbook  is  a  sack  of  cowries  or  salt  tied  at  the 
mouth  with  a  string.  But  now  and  then  something 
happens  that  the  rule  may  not  become  monotonous. 
N'susa,  one  of  the  boys  of  my  caravan,  misappro- 
priated some  cowries.  I  called  him  (in  the  presence 
of  two  witnesses)  in  question  about  the  matter.  He 
acknowledged  removing  the  shells  and  innocently  re- 
marked, "You  are  the  same  as  my  father,  and  what 
is  his  is  mine." 

VERY  SUPERSTITIOUS. — Before  a  man  starts  on  his 
123 


124  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

journey  the  witch  doctor  blesses  his  charm — a  palm 
nut,  cola  nut  or  a  small  antelope  horn  which  is  worn 
on  the  neck. 

If  two  persons  (and  they  never  travel  alone)  come 
to  an  obstruction  in  the  path  (tree  stump,  etc.,)  they 
never  part,  but  both  pass  on  the  same  side.  If  either 
stump  a  toe  and  the  blood  runs  out,  they  invariably 
turn  back. 

The  itching  of  the  hand,  twitching  of  the  eye,  a 
crow  flying  across  one's  house,  an  owl  hooting  in  the 
jungle,  a  snake  crossing  your  trail,  are  all  bad  signs. 
The  new  moon  was  carefully  watched  whether  it 
bore  good  or  evil  tidings.  If  the  crescent  lay  with 
both  points  upward,  this  was  a  sign  of  peace.  If  it 
stood  on  the  point,  drums  were  beaten,  horns  blown, 
arrows  dipped  afresh  in  poison,  for  there  was  going 
(to  be  blood  shed. 

A  woman  crying  and  holding  her  hands  over  a 
bruised  eye  came  to  my  place  asking  for  medicine. 
She  said  that  early  in  the  morning  she  and  her  hus- 
band had  a  quarrel,  and  he  on  his  way  to  his  corn- 
field was  bitten  by  a  snake.  He  returned  home  and 
beat  her  for  it  and  said  that  she  had  sent  the  snake 
to  bite  him. 

The  capsizing  of  a  canoe,  the  falling  out  of  a  palm 
tree,  a  hunter  or  traveler  killed  by  elephant  or  leop- 
ard— these  are  caused  by  some  enemy. 

THE  SIGNAL  LEAF. — A  woman  under  the  treat- 
ment of  her  doctor  and  on  her  way  to  the  creek  for  a 
jug  of  water  carries  in  her  mouth  a  leaf,  which  signi- 
fies to  all  that  she  must  not  be  saluted.  If  she  is 


CUSTOMS  IN  LUKENGA'S  LAND         126 

cooking  a  meal  and  a  neighbor  comes  in,  she  must 
not  speak  until  she  is  through  cooking  and  every- 
thing covered  up.  By  speaking  or  talking  someone 
can  wish  her  evil  and  it  enters  the  stomach  by  drink- 
ing or  eating. 

THE  MOTHER-IN-LAW. — A  man  never  meets  face 
to  face  his  mother-in-law  on  the  highway.  The  man 
steps  off  and  hides  or  turns  his  face.  He  never  sits 
near  or  eats  with  her  at  any  time.  He  must  always 
act  shy.  He  honors  her  in  this  way. 

No  EYE-WITNESS. — A  man  accused  of  breaking 
the  rule  of  honesty,  if  there  is  no  eye-witness,  is 
tested  by  putting  his  right  hand  three  times  deep 
down  in  a  pot  of  scalding  water,  and  if  the  skin  be- 
gins to  peel  off,  he  is  guilty ;  if  it  does  not  he  is  inno- 
cent. 

-..to/Goa;   -  '*-«fr-*> 

RED  PEPPER  TEST. — The  girl  accused  of  miscon- 
duct is  tested  by  the  witch  doctor  putting  a  small 
piece  of  copper  wire  and  a  finger  full  of  red  pepper 
in  her  eye.  If  the  copper  wire  falls  out  and  the  pep- 
per does  not  burn  her,  she  is  innocent.  If  otherwise, 
she  is  guilty,  and  must  pay  a  fine. 

THE  POISONOUS  CUP. — In  the  native  mind  no  one 
dies  an  ordinary  death:  they  have  been  bewitched 
by  an  enemy.  The  witch  doctors  are  paid  by  the 
relatives  of  the  deceased  to  hunt  out  the  guilty  one. 
Early  in  the  morning  with  painted  bodies,  feathers 
in  their  hair,  leopard  skins  on  their  bodies,  big  war 
knives  in  their  hands,  they  proceed  to  run,  leap, 
scream,  ring  iron  bells  up  and  down  the  streets,  stop- 
ping and  hooting  at  every  door,  until  by  some  imag- 


126  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

inary  force  they  are  held  at  someone's  door.  A  great 
shout  goes  up  from  the  chasers.  The  person  is  called 
out  and  accused.  Of  course,  they  declare  their  in- 
nocence, but  they  are  taken  to  a  shed  called  the 
witch's  hou^e.  They  remain  there  until  the  market- 
ers come  in  from  the  country.  In  the  meantime  the 
accused  is  visited  by  relatives  and  friends,  each  ex- 
pressing their  regret  and  hoping  the  test  will  be 
passed. 

The  witch  doctor  cuts  from  a  certain  tree  poison- 
ous bark,  pounds  it  up  and  mixes  it  with  water  and 
standing  before  the  accused  and  the  assembled  crowd 
says,  "If  you  are  guilty  you  will  die ;  if  not  guilty  you 
will  vomit  the  poison."  The  victim,  knowing  that 
he  is  innocent,  willingly  takes  the  bowl  and  pro- 
ceeds to  drink  it  all. 

THE  VICTIM  OF  THE  CUP. — The  victim  is  told  to 
walk  and  in  about  ten  minutes  the  poison  has  its  ef- 
fect. If  it  acts  as  an  emetic,  a  great  shout  of  joy 
goes  up  from  friends  of  the  accused.  The  victim  is 
allowed  to  be  carried  off  to  a  secret  place  by  friends 
And  the  excruciating  heaving  goes  on  for  hours.  If 
the  victim,  from  the  effects  of  the  poison,  staggers 
and  falls,  a  shout  goes  up  from  enemies,  and  the 
witch  doctor  leaps  upon  the  neck  of  the  fallen  and 
crushes  out  the  remainder  of  life.  The  body  is  then 
wrapped  in  a  mat,  taken  far  out  on  the  plain  and 
burned  to  ashes. 

'No  ONE  LIVES  ALONE. — From  the  great  Lukenga 
plateau  as  far  as  the  eye  can  look  you  see  villages 
dotted  everywhere.  You  never  find  a  family  living 


CUSTOMS  IN  LUKENGA'S  LAND        127 

alone  isolated  from  a  village.  The  people  live  to- 
gether for  mutual  protection  from  enemies  and  ani- 
mals. And  usually  everybody  in  a  village  is  related 
in  some  near  or  distant  way;  but  it  does  not  keep 
them  from  fighting  occasionally. 

THEY  ACTUALLY  COURT. — The  Bakuba  are  mono- 
gamists. A  young  man  sees  a  girl  whom  he  likes; 
he  has  met  her  in  his  own  town  or  at  some  other,  or 
perhaps  at  a  market  place  or  a  dance.  He  sends  her 
tokens  of  love,  bananas,  plantains,  peanuts,  dried 
fish  or  grasshoppers.  She  in  turn  sends  him  similar 
presents. 

They  often  meet,  sit  down  on  the  green,  laugh 
and  talk  together.  I  have  seen  the  girls  often  blush 
and  really  put  on  airs.  He  asks  her  to  have  him,,  if 
she  has  no  one  else  on  her  heart,  and  tells  her  that 
he  wants  no  one  to  eat  the  crop  that  is  in  the  field 
but  her.  The  girl  and  the  parents  both  agree. 

THEY  REALLY  MARRY. — On  a  set  day  when  the 
market  is  in  full  blast,  with  hundreds  of  people  from 
everywhere ,  the  young  man  and  girl,  with  their 
young  friends,  all  dressed  in  their  best  robes,  meet 
and  march  Indian  file  through  the  open  market  and 
receive  congratulations  from  everybody. 

The  new  bride  and  groom  continue  their  march  to 
the  already  prepared  house  of  the  young  man.  A 
feast  of  goat,  sheep,  monkey,  chicken  or  fish,  with 
plenty  of  palm  wine  is  served  and  all  is  ended  with 
a  big  dance. 

ROYALTY  EXCEPTED.— The  women  of  the  king's 
household  select  their  own  husbands,  and  no  man 


128  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

dare  decline;  and  no  man  would  ever  be  so  rude  or 
presumptuous  as  to  ask  for  the  hand  and  heart  of 
royalty. 

AGREEMENTS  UNDERSTOOD. — The  husband  knows 
that  he  must  cut  down  the  forest  and  assist  in  plant- 
ing corn,  millet,  beans,  peas,  sweet  potatoes  and  to- 
bacco, hunt  for  game,  bring  the  palm  wine,  palm 
nuts,  make  his  wife's  garments  and  repair  the  house. 
He  is  never  to  be  out  after  8  o'clock  at  night  unless 
sitting  up  at  a  wake  or  taking  part  in  a  public  town 
dance. 

The  young  man  before  marriage  sends  a  certain 
number  of  well  woven  mats  and  so  many  thousands 
of  cowries  to  the  parents  of  the  girl  as  a  dowry.  If 
they  cease  to  love  and  must  part,  even  twenty  rainy 
seasons  from  marriage,  the  dowry  or  its  equivalent 
is  returned  to  the  man. 

The  wife  is  expected  to  shave  and  onoint  the  hus- 
band's body  with  palm  oil,  keep  his  toenails  and 
finger-nails  manicured,  bring  water  and  wood,  help 
jn  the  field,  cook  his  food,  and  take  care  of  the  chil- 
dren. 

LOVE  MEDICINE. — I  have  had  many  a  man  come 
and  ask  to  buy  love  medicine.  They  think  charms 
and  medicine  can  do  anything.  I  always  told  them, 
of  course,  that  it  was  a  matter  of  the  girl's  heart, 
and  charms  or  medicines  could  not  help  out  in  their 
"love  affairs." 

THEY  LOVE  LARGE  FAMILIES. — The  Bakuba  are 
morally  a  splendid  people.  I  have  asked  a  number 


A  Dwarf  (B*twa) 


CUSTOMS  IN  LUKENGA'S  LAND         129 

of  Bakuba  what  was  their  real  ideal  of  life,  and 
they  invariably  answered  to  have  a  big  corn  field, 
marry  a  good  wife,  and  have  many  children. 

BABIES  BORN  WHITE. — We  were  astonished  when 
we  saw  the  first  new-born  baby.  It  was  so  very 
light.  But  in  a  few  weeks  the  youngster  rallied  to 
his  colors  and  we  were  assured  that  he  would  never 
change  again. 

BABY'S  OWN  HOUSE. — No  baby  is  born  in  the  reg- 
ularly occupied  house.  A  small  house  is  built  in  the 
back  yard  and  is  surrounded  by  a  fence  of  palm 
fronds.  No  one  is  admitted  into  the  enclosure  but 
a  few  women.  The  new  youngster  receives  a  bath 
of  palm  oil,  then  the  notice  is  given  and  all  the 
friends  of  the  family  with  jugs  of  cold  water  vie 
with  each  other  in  giving  mother  and  baby  a  shower 
bath.  The  drums  beat  and  the  dance  in  water  and 
mud  continues  for  hours. 

STUFFING  THE  BABY. — Until  you  get  accustomed 
to  it  you  would  be  horrified  to  see  the  mothers  stuff 
their  young  babies.  The  mother  nurses  the  baby 
just  as  any  mother,  but  she  doesn't  think  that  suffi- 
cient. So  she  has  by  her  side  a  small  pot  of  soft  corn 
pone  and  a  pot  of  water  or  palm  oil.  She  makes  a 
large  pill  from  the  pone,  dips  it  in  the  water  or  oil, 
and  while  the  baby  is  lying  on  his  back  in  her  lap 
these  pills  are  dropped  in  its  mouth.  Then  the 
mother  uses  the  forefinger  to  force  the  collection  of 
pills  down  its  throat.  As  the  baby  resists  and  kicks, 
water  is  poured  down  its  throat  to  facilitate  the  pro- 
cess. If  the  baby  strangles,  the  mother  will  Bhake 


130  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

him  up  and  down  a  few  times.  When  the  feeding 
is  over,  he  is  a  "stuffed"  baby. 

BABY  CUTS  TEETH. — When  the  baby  is  cutting 
teeth,  the  mother  will  tie  a  small  gourd  around  its 
neck  and  insert  the  pointed  end  into  its  mouth,  or 
use  a  piece  of  crude  rubber. 

When  the  child  is  seven  or  eight  years  old  the  two 
front  teeth  are  knocked  out  by  the  blacksmith  with 
a  small  pestle  and  punch.  When  a  person  gets  sick 
he  usually  clinches  his  teeth.  The  two  front  teeth 
are  knocked  out  so  that  the  mother  or  witch  doctor 
may  insert  a  funnel  and  pour  the  medicine  through. 

SICK  FOLK. — I  have  never  known  any  cases  of 
measles  or  mumps  and  only  a  rare  case  of  smallpox. 
Fever  and  pneumonia  are  the  prevalent  maladies.  A 
person  having  fever  lies  out  in  the  hot  sun  and 
sweats ;  with  pneumonia  they  give  a  hot  mixture  of 
herbs.  If  a  man  or  woman  has  a  severe  backache, 
they  lie  down  before  their  door  and  the  witch  doctor 
walks  up  and  down  their  backs,  kneading  them  with 
his  feet ;  or  the  "doctor"  will  have  a  hole  like  a  grave 
dug  in  the  ground,  sticks  laid  across  the  top,  a  hot 
wood  fire  built  below,  then  cover  the  fire  with  leaves 
and  the  patient  laid  across  the  sticks  to  smoke. 

If  they  receive  a  cut,  there  are  leaves  which,  when 
torn  open,  exudes  a  juice,  and  when  applied  will  stop 
the  bleeding.  For  headache  a  string  is  usually  tied 
very  tight  around  the  forehead  to  give  relief.  But  a 
permanent  relief  comes  when  the  witch  doctor  cups 
the  temples  by  placing  on  each  a  small  gourd.  This 
gourd  with  one  end  smoothly  cut  off  draws  the  blood. 


CUSTOMS  IN  LUKENGA'S  LAND         131 

and  the  patient  is  soon  better.  They  cup  any  part 
of  their  bodies  where  there  is  pain. 

As  THE  CHILDREN  GROW  UP. — The  Bakuba  chil- 
dren have  many  games  and  but  few  toys.  The  girls 
have  wooden  dolls  made  by  their  fathers,  and  the 
boys  make  bamboo  bows  and  arrows.  They 
shoot  mice,  lizards,  grasshoppers,  crickets,  caterpil- 
lars, butterflies,  lighting  bugs,  etc. 

They  make  mud  pies  and  play  market,  and  tie  the 
legs  of  May  and  June  bugs  to  see  them  fly  around 
and  buzz.  They  love  to  play  housekeeping.  They 
are  also  trained  to  do  some  work,  as  bringing  wood, 
sweeping,  or  looking  after  the  younger  ones.  There 
are  no  knives,  forks  or  dishes  to  wash. 

"Baby  talk"  is  not  used  and  the  parents  speak  to 
the  babies  just  as  though  they  were  speaking  to 
grown-ups. 

I  have  seen  the  children  in  the  streets  drawing 
with  a  pointed  stick  or  their  finger  on  the  smooth 
sand  men,  leopards,  monkeys,  crocodiles,  birds, 
snakes  and  other  animals. 

ACROBATS. — The  boys  make  a  heap  of  clay  and 
sod  it,  and  with  great  speed  run  upon  it  and  turn  a 
somersault,  lighting  on  their  feet.  A  string  of  them 
together  will  play  "leap  frog,"  and  hide  and  seek 
is  great  sport  with  them.  In  all  these  amusements 
they  keep  up  a  song. 

TAUGHT  TO  FIGHT.— There  is  one  thing  you  will 
certainly  see  them  doing,  both  boys  and  girls,  and 
that  is  beating  their  clinched  fists  into  the  hard  clay 
just  as  hard  as  they  can  drive.  A  year  later  you  will 


132  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

see  them  driving  their  knuckles  against  &  log  or  a 
tree.  In  this  way  they  become  hardened  and  are 
used  as  a  weapon  in  fights,  when  they  are  grown. 
And,  too,  they  can  butt  like  a  goat,  so  in  their  family 
fights  they  not  only  use  their  fists  but  their  heads. 

CHILDREN  OF  NATURE. — I  spent  hours  at  King  Lu- 
kenga's  and  other  villages  playing  with  the  little 
folks  and  trying  to  find  out  what  they  were  thinking 
about.  They  had  a  name  for  the  sun  and  moon, 
names  for  very  brilliant  and  prominent  stars  and 
ordinary  ones.  The  sun  was  the  father  of  the  heav- 
ens, the  moon  was  his  wife,  and  the  stars  were  their 
children.  The  sun  after  going  down  was  paddled 
around  in  a  very  large  canoe  on  the  great  water  by 
men  who  were  more  than  human  and  started  in  the 
skies  again.  They  knew  that  a  year  was  divided 
into  two  general  seasons,  the  rainy  (eight  moons), 
the  dry  (four  moons) ;  though  even  in  the  rainy  sea- 
son it  doesn't  rain  every  day  and  very  seldom  all  day 
at  any  time ;  and  in  the  dry  season  there  is  an  occa- 
sional refreshing  shower. 

They  knew  the  names  of  all  the  lakes,  rivers  and 
small  streams.  Roots  that  were  good  for  medicine 
or  to  eat  they  knew.  Flowers  and  ferns  were  called 
by  name,  and  the  names  of  all  the  many  varieties  of 
trees,  birds  and  animals. 

KINGLY  COUNSEL. — I  was  surprised  to  know  from 
Maxamalinge,  the  king's  son,  that  every  month  the 
king  had  all  the  little  children  of  the  town  before 
him  and  he  in  turn  would  talk  to  them,  as  a  great 
and  good  father  to  his  own  children. 


CUSTOMS  IN  LUKENGA'S  LAND         183 

The  king  would  have  his  servants  give  to  each  boy 
and  girl  a  handful  of  peanuts.  When  they  were  out 
of  the  king's  quarters  there  was  many  a  scrap  over 
these  peanuts. 

A  HEAVY  STORM. — One  night  there  blew  a  heavy 
storm,  and  the  rain  doctor  was  in  it  all.  I  could  hear 
his  whistle  blowing  and  his  loud  voice  calling  to  the 
storm  to  be  still.  Houses  were  unroofed,  trees  blown 
down,  and  fences  wrecked.  The  next  morning,  men 
passing  my  place,  said  to  me  as  they  saluted,  "A 
heavy  storm  last  night."  I  answered,  "Yes,  a  heavy 
gtorm."  At  midday  two  messengers  from  King 
Lukenga  approached  hurriedly  and,  kneeling,  slapp- 
ed their  hands  and  said,  "The  king  calls  for  you." 
"What  does  your  king  want?"  I  enquired.  They 
replied,  "we  don't  know."  I  brushed  my  hair,  put  on 
my  coat  and  started  with  the  men.  All  along  the 
street  men  were  busy  repairing  their  houses  and 
fences.  Some  saluted  and  some  didn't.  We  ap- 
proached the  king's  high  fence,  passed  through  a 
number  of  gates  and  into  the  king's  presence.  After 
a  few  preliminary  remarks,  he  frowned  and  leaned 
forward,  saying,  "A  heavy  storm  last  night."  I 
hastily  answered,  "Yes,  king,  a  heavy  storm,  and  I 
was  frightened."  He  leaned  back  and  said  in  a  ques- 
tionable tone,  "You  frightened?"  Again  I  said, 
"Yes."  He  placed  his  hand  under  his  chin,  looking 
me  square  in  the  eye,  and  asked,  "What  caused  that 
storm?"  I  told  him  of  the  present  rainy  season,  of 
storms  down  at  Luebo,  and  naturally  he  would  have 
them  here.  The  king  grew  excited,  made  many  ge»- 


134  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

tures,  and  said  in  a  loud  voice,  "My  witch  doctors 
saw  your  followers  at  our  creek  yesterday  stirring 
up  the  water  and  that  caused  the  storm  which  came 
down  last  night." 

I  was  frightened,  not  knowing  what  would  follow, 
so  I  answered  (as  I  had  often  heard  his  own  people) 
in  a  low,  slow  voice,  "It  is  true,  king,  my  people  were 
at  the  creek,  but  they  were  washing  my  clothes  and 
it  could  not  cause  a  storm."  I  continued,  "They 
used  in  washing  what  we  call  in  the  foreign  country 
soap,  and  it  caused  the  whiteness  and  foam  on  the 
water,  but  it  is  something  innocent  and  cannot  cause 
a  storm." 

The  king  leaned  back  and  was  again  calm  and  re- 
marked in  a  pleasant  tone  of  voice,  "Well,  don't  have 
your  clothes  washed  any  more." 

THEY  HAD  NEVER  HEARD  A  GUN. — I  had  now  been 
at  Lukenga's  a  month.  I  had  no  calendar,  but 
one  of  my  natives  was  time-keeper,  daily  tying  a 
knot  in  a  string  which  was  worn  around  his  neck, 
and  every  seventh  day  we  kept  as  the  Sabbath.  The 
people  had  seen  my  gun,  but  had  never  heard  it.  I 
ventured  out  one  day  to  shoot  some  guinea  fowls  in 
the  manioc  fields,  and  snipe  at  a  stream  a  half  mile 
away.  I  succeeded  in  getting  the  game  and  return- 
ing. The  next  day  King  Lukenga  sent  for  me  and 
I  was  not  so  timid  as  before.  I  went,  and  he  told 
me  that  farmers  had  come  and  complained  that  their 
crops  of  corn  would  die  if  I  continued  to  shoot  over 
their  fields.  I  consented  at  once  to  shoot  no  more, 
explaining  to  the  king  that  I  would  do  nothing  to 
offend  them. 


CUSTOMS  IN  LUKENGA'S  LAND         1S5 

TROUBLE  AT  A  FUNERAL. — On  the  burial  day  of  one 
of  the  villagers  I  saw  a  number  of  men  coming  down 
the  street  with  a  slave  woman,  with  whom  they  were 
having  trouble  forcing  along.  I  stepped  out  and  in- 
quired the  trouble,  and  they  explained  that  the  owner 
of  the  slave  had  died  and  they  were  going  to  bury 
her  with  the  dead.  I  protested  and  ventured  to  res- 
cue the  woman  and  for  about  ten  minutes  the  Ba- 
kuba,  my  people  and  I  were  tied  up  in  a  scramble. 
We  were  overpowered  and  on  they  went  with  their 
victim. 

A  VICTIM  OF  LIGHTNING. — It  was  reported  after 
a  storm  that  a  woman  had  been  struck  by  lightning. 
I  went  out  to  see  her,  knowing  their  custom  of  giving 
the  poisonous  cup  to  find  out  the  person  who  had 
sent  the  lightning.  I  kept  a  close  watch  on  the  witch 
doctors,  but  I  presume  because  I  had  preached  so 
much  against  the  wicked  custom  they  did  not  have 
a  public  test.  I  fear  though  they  went  off  secretly 
into  the  bushes  or  high  grass  and  carried  out  their 
plans. 

UNDER  A  FATAL  TREE. — The  report  came  one  day 
from  a  market  town  far  away  that  twenty  persons 
had  been  shocked  by  lightning;  some  were  killed. 
They  took  refuge  under  a  tree  from  a  heavy  thunder 
storm.  In  their  minds  some  enemy  sent  the  storm. 

INFECTED  MONEY. — One  day  when  out  walking 
with  some  of  the  villagers  I  saw  a  few  cowrie  shells 
and  began  picking  them  up.  My  friends  at  once 
bade  me  put  them  down.  They  explained  that  some 
sick  person  had  rubbed  the  cowrie  on  their  own  af- 


186  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

fected  body  and  thrown  them  by  the  wayside,  and 
the  person  picking  them  up  would  catch  the  disease 
and  the  affected  one  would  get  well. 

ME.  LAPSLEY'S  BIBLE. — I  was  often  with  King 
Lukenga,  always  taking  along  Mr.  Lapsley's  Bible; 
it  seemed  easier  for  me  to  read,  for  there  were 
marks  in  it  from  Genesis  to  Revelation.  Some  of 
the  most  choice  and  striking  texts  were  underscored 
twice.  The  margins  were  filled  with  helpful  sug- 
gestions. 

The  king  always  wanted  to  handle  it  and  turn  the 
leaves.  He  had  never,  and  neither  had  all  his  pre- 
decessors, ever  seen  a  book  of  any  description,  nor 
even  a  scrap  of  paper.  The  book  he  was  handling 
was  the  sword  of  the  spirit,  the  light  of  the  world. 
That  book,  as  little  as  the  king  knew  about  it,  was 
the  "Lamp"  that  should  guide  his  people  over  the 
King's  highway  to  victory.  Think  of  it,  the  first 
Bible  in  all  the  Kasai  region !  All  of  my  preaching 
to  the  king  was  in  the  way  of  conversation.  A  num- 
ber of  times  he  had  his  wives  to  assemble  and  in 
those  cases  I  stood  up.  At  several  of  those  meetings 
the  king  asked  us  to  sing  again  "We  Are  Marching 
to  Zion,  Beautiful  Zion,"  etc.  He  did  not  understand 
a  word  of  it;  the  hymn  was  one  of  Mr.  Lapsley's 
translations  in  "Ke  Keti,"  the  preaching  was  in 
Bakuba.  We  had  no  translated  hymns  in  Bakuba. 
Though  they  did  not  know  the  words,  there  was  al- 
ways a  serious  and  pleasant  response. 

PRYING  INTO  THE  KING'S  CUSTOMS. — My  interfer- 
ing with  the  men  who  were  dragging  the  woman  to 


CUSTOM  SIN  LUKENGA'S  LAND         187 

her  death  had  been  reported  to  Lukenga.  He  men- 
tioned it  to  me,  saying,  "The  burying  of  the  living 
with  the  dead  was  far  beyond  the  Bakete,  who  only 
bury  goats  with  their  dead,  and  that  is  why  we 
bury  slaves ;  they  serve  us  here  and  then  go  with  us 
on  the  journey  to  wait  on  us  there."  I  told  the  king 
in  the  strongest  language  I  could  command  that  it 
was  wrong  without  the  least  shadow  of  justification. 
I  tried  to  prove  to  him  that  the  poisonous  cup  was  a 
very  cruel  and  unjust  practice  and  there  were  no 
witches.  And  if  they  gave  the  poison  to  anyone 
whose  stomach  was  not  easily  moved  they  would 
die.  The  king  thought  me  very  foolish,  saying,  "If 
a  person  is  innocent  they  can  never  die." 

You  GROW  INDIGNANT. — Seeing  these  awful  cus- 
toms practiced  by  these  people  for  ages  makes  you 
indignant  and  depressed  and  also  fills  you  with  pity. 
Only  by  preaching  God's  word,  having  faith,  pa- 
tience and  love  will  we  eradicate  the  deep-rooted 
evil.  Everything  to  them  is  run  by  chance,  and 
there  are  evil  spirits  and  witches  everywhere. 

PREACHING  IN  THE  MARKETS. — The  people  from 
the  country  and  surrounding  towns  made  the  mark- 
ets and  they  would  always  cease  bartering  for  a 
short  while  as  we  held  divine  service.  In  this  way 
the  word  spread  and  many  people  came  long  dis- 
tances just  to  see  and  to  hear. 

ENLIGHTENED  BUT  IN  DARKNESS. — I  was  astound- 
ed to  find  a  people  in  Central  Africa  so  intelligent 
and  yet  so  far  from  the  truth.  The  kilt  or  gathered 
eldrts  worn  by  men  and  women  are  made  from  palm 


138  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

fibre  on  their  own  hand  looms.  They  all  wear  belts, 
many  with  beads  and  cowries  tastefully  worked  in 
them.  The  men  wear  small  conical-shaped  hats,  kept 
on  to  a  tuft  of  hair  by  a  long  pin.  Before  a  man 
takes  a  wife  he  must,  bearing  a  present,  proceed 
to  King  Lukenga,  seek  an  audience,  and  have  the 
king  with  his  own  hands  place  the  hat  on  his  head 
and  run  the  pin  through.  No  young  man  is  permit- 
ted to  wear  a  hat  or  marry  a  girl,  it  matters  not 
how  many  days'  journey  he  lives  from  the  capital, 
until  he  sees  the  king  and  receives  the  blessing  by 
the  hat  process. 

INDUSTRIES. — Blacksmiths  were  busy  turning  out 
axes,  hoes,  knives,  spears  and  razors.  Others  made 
mats,  rugs,  baskets,  hats,  cups,  spoons  and  work 
boxes.  Many  made  fishing  seines  and  nets  for  catch- 
ing animals  in  the  chase. 

PROVISION  FOR  THE  KING. — Every  man  of  every 
tribe  in  the  king's  country  is  taxed  and  at  stated 
times  his  representatives  in  every  village  collect  the 
cowrie  shells  and  report  to  the  capital.  One  tusk 
of  every  elephant  belongs  to  Lukenga.  The  skins  of 
all  leopards  killed  are  collected  and  sent  to  the  king. 
The  fishermen  who  live  near  the  river  and  small 
lakes  send  up  a  certain  number  of  baskets  of  dried 
fish  each  year. 

The  hunters,  Batwa  people,  send  cured  elephant, 
deer  and  monkey  meat.  The  Baxabwa,  who  live  on 
the  great  plains,  at  a  certain  season  run  down  par- 
tridges, catch  them  alive,  and  send  baskets  full  to 
the  king.  Lukenga  has  a  large  coop  made  of  bamboo 


CUSTOMS  IN  LUKENGA'S  LAND        189 

splits,  and  these  birds  are  kept  and  fed  for  him  and 
his  family. 

There  is  a  time  for  the  swarming  of  the  red  lo- 
cust. They  settle  down  over  the  country  by  the 
millions.  These  are  gathered,  scalded,  and  sent  in 
baskets  to  the  king.  Caterpillars  and  grasshoppers 
are  also  delicacies  fit  for  a  king's  table.  Manioc, 
millet,  corn,  peas  and  peanuts  were  stored  away  in 
abundance  at  Lukenga's.  Lukenga  never  slept  hun- 
gry. 

A  YEARLY  FEAST. — I  had  the  pleasure  of  being  at 
the  king's  at  a  yearly  "get  together."  There  were 
representatives  from  all  of  the  king's  villages 
throughout  the  land.  They  brought  with  them  their 
musical  instruments — drums,  ivory  horns,  harps, 
etc.  They  brought  their  best  clothes  in  long  boxes 
made  from  bark. 

When  the  houses  were  all  filled  they  slept  under 
large  sheds.  The  streets  were  alive.  You  could 
hear  them  inquiring  of  friends  of  their  relatives  in 
distant  towns.  Everybody  wore  a  big  smile  and 
was  happy. 

The  women  had  been  to  the  creek  and  rhbbed  the 
sides  of  their  feet  many,  many  times  against  a  stone 
until  there  was  a  white  stripe  all  the  way  around. 
They  wore  a  copper  ring  on  their  big  toe  and  walked 
pigeon-toed.  The  style  was  to  make  short  steps  with 
the  big  toe  elevated.  Garlands  of  ferns  and  flower? 
were  on  their  heads  and  around  their  necks. 

Daily,  for  two  weeks  they  gathered  in  the  big 
square,  sitting  in  a  great  circle.  The  king  and  a  few 


140  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

of  his  wives  and  sons  sat  on  an  elevated  covered 
bamboo  platform.  The  delegates  from  each  town 
sat  together  with  their  chief  in  front.  It  was  a 
beautiful  sight !  The  master  of  ceremonies  ran  into 
the  center,  saluted  the  king  with  the  royal  mace, 
then  laid  it  before  the  chief  of  a  village. 

The  chief  arose,  made  a  few  acrobatic  movements, 
and  from  the  center  of  the  circle  saluted  the  king 
and  in  a  loud  voice  reported  the  health  and  pros- 
perity of  his  town,  told  of  the  cropa,  the  births  and 
deaths,  and  then  danced  alone  to  the  delight  and 
amusement  of  all  the  people. 

As  the  evening  drew  near  the  formal  ceremonies 
broke  up  with  the  music  playing,  the  people  singing 
and  everybody  dancing. 

As  I  walked  unaccompanied  from  the  crowd,  I 
prayed  that  the  day  would  soon  come  when  these 
same  lips  would  be  singing  another  song,  and  there 
would  be  another  report  of  births,  health  and 
growth  of  souls  to  another  King. 

PREPARATION  FOR  DEATH. — As  soon  as  a  boy  is 
large  enough  to  work,  he  is  taught  mat  weaving.  He 
must  first  make  dozens  of  balls  of  string  from  the 
palm  fibre.  Then  day  by  day  he  cuts  the  long  bam- 
boo poles  into  narrow  splits.  As  he  makes  these 
splits  they  are  tied  up  under  his  father's  shed  or 
under  the  eaves  of  his  house  from  the  dampness. 
When  he  has  sufficient,  he  begins  under  instruction 
of  his  father,  brother  or  a  friend  to  weave  his  mate 
against  the  day  of  his  burial. 

When  these  very  large  mats  are  completed  a  corn 


CUSTOMS  IN  LUKENGA'S  LAND        141 

cob  is  stuck  in  each  end  to  keep  out  the  rats,  they 
are  then  carefully  rolled  up  in  palm  leaves  to  pre- 
vent their  being  soiled  or  smoked. 

At  death  these  mats  are  cut  and  securely  fastened 
to  a  framework  of  strong  bamboo  in  the  shape  of  a 
large  telescoping  box,  the  coffin. 

THEY  KNOW  DEATH. — I  only  mention  one  out  of 
scores  I  have  seen  die.  Nnyminym  took  to  his  bed. 
The  witch  doctors  daily  for  a  week  gathered  hands 
full  of  ashes  from  his  neighbor's  houses  and  rubbed 
on  his  stomach  to  counteract  anything  poisonous  he 
had  eaten  in  these  homes.  I  visited  the  patient;  also 
treated  him,  but  Nnyminym  grew  weak  and  was 
moved  from  his  bed  to  a  mat  on  the  dry  ground  un- 
der his  shed  in  front  of  his  door.  I  talked  to  him  of 
having  faith  in  God,  but  it  was  all  so  vague  to  him. 
Earlier  than  my  usual  time  for  calling,  his  wife  sent 
for  me,  saying  that  Nnyminym  was  dead.  Knowing 
their  custom,  I  was  not  alarmed,  but  responded  at 
once. 

I  found  the  family  bathing  him  and  putting  on  his 
burial  clothes.  I  remarked,  "You  are  hasty,  I  fear, 
in  dressing  him  for  burial,"  but  the  wife  remarked 
with  grief,  "No,  he  will  be  dead  soon."  When  they 
had  fixed  his  hair,  shaved  his  face  and  shoulders, 
anointed  his  body  with  palm  oil  and  adjusted  his 
legs  back  under  him,  they  all  sat  in  a  semi-circle. 
His  sister  sat  behind  him  holding  his  back.  This 
was  all  done  in  a  business-like  way  and  in  order  and 
quietness. 

DEBTORS  TO  THE  DEAD.— The  wife  asked  in  a  calm, 


142  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

gentle  tone,  "What  of  your  debts  unknown  to  us?" 
Nnyminym  answered  calmly,  "I  have  settled  all  my 
debts;  but  listen,  I  will  tell  you  the  names  of  those 
owing  me,"  and  without  effort  he  called  name  after 
name  as  the  wife  broke  small  pieces  of  bamboo  for 
each  name.  These  pieces  of  bamboo  were  kept  and 
the  debts  collected  after  death. 

WATCHING  DEATH. — Now  and  then  Nnyminym  in 
his  sitting  attitude  looked  at  his  hands  growing 
pale,  watched  the  heaving  of  his  breast,  looked  at  his 
family  and  friends  before  him,  drew  a  long  breath  as 
though  very  tired,  and  actually  watched  death  steal 
his  life  away.  As  soon  as  his  eyes  were  closed  a 
scream  went  up  from  his  wife,  and  the  rest  of  his 
family  joined  in.  A  friend  of  the  family  took  his 
sister's  place  of  holding  his  back. 

Then,  as  is  the  custom,  all  the  town  came  with 
slow  steps  and  moaning  song,  hands  extended  in  the 
air  or  folded  over  the  head  to  weep  with  the  bereft. 
They  all  cried ;  those  who  really  cannot  cry  squeeze 
out  tears,  any  way.  They  must  cry. 

IN  STATE. — The  family  friend  made  an  elevated 
seat  like  a  large  armchair  and  removed  Nnyminym 
from  the  low  mat  to  the  chair.  They  then  placed  on 
his  head  a  new  hat  and  an  elephant  tail  in  his  hand ; 
the  latter  to  show  his  strength.  While  the  men  on 
the  spot  were  busy  making  his  oblong  telescoping 
coffin,  the  people  passed  in  review  moaning.  The 
whole  night  was  spent  in  weeping  and  wailing. 

THE  FUNERAL  DANCE. — The  next  day  friends 
from  neighboring  villages  joined  with  these  and  in 


CUSTOMS  IN  LUKENGA'S  LAND         143 

their  best  clothes  danced  all  day.  These  dances  are 
to  cheer  up  the  bereaved  family  and  to  run  away 
evil  spirits. 

SMOOTH  GRAVES  EIGHT  FEET  DEEP. — The  third 
day  six  men  bore  away  to  the  graveyard  just  outside 
of  the  town  Nnyminym's  remains.  The  family  and 
friends  followed  quietly  behind.  They  gently  low- 
ered the  coffin  in  the  grave  by  hooks  in  long  bamboo 
poles  and  covered  it  with  banana  leaves.  The  wo- 
men with  their  hands  put  in  the  first  clay  entirely 
covering  the  leaves ;  then  the  men  with  hoes  did  the 
rest.  A  carved  tusk  of  ivory  was  placed  at  his  head. 
The  wife  and  friends  return  to  the  town,  and  when 
the  widow  enters  her  gate  she  is  not  again  to  appear 
on  the  street  for  a  year,  remaining  in  solitude  and 
with  personal  friends.  She  can  eat  only  parched 
corn  and  peanuts. 

HIGHLY  CIVILIZED.— I  grew  very  fond  of  the  Ba- 
kuba  and  it  was  reciprocated.  They  were  the  finest 
looking  race  I  had  seen  in  Africa,  dignified,  graceful, 
courageous,  honest,  with  an  open,  smiling  counte- 
nance and  really  hospitable.  Their  knowledge  of 
weaving,  embroidering,  wood  carving  and  smelting 
was  the  highest  in  equatorial  Africa. 


CHAPTER  X. 

BACK  TO  LUEBO. 

DENIED  A  LEAVE  OF  ABSENCE. — I  told  King  Luken- 
ga  that  I  loved  him  and  his  people,  and  that  it  was  a 
real  pleasure  to  live  in  his  town,  but  that  his  sub- 
jects at  Luebo  were  looking  for  my  return,  and  we 
had  started  a  school  and  other  good  works  down 
there,  and  I  desired  to  continue  it.  The  king  replied 
to  my  request  that  he  wanted  me  to  remain  with  him 
and  not  return  again  to  Luebo.  After  a  number 
of  appeals  in  succession  my  request  was  granted 
with  the  provision  that  I  return  to  him  in  the  near 
future. 

GETTING  READY  TO  MOVE. — I  mentioned  to  my  fol- 
lowers that  we  would  soon  be  returning  to  Luebo ; 
they  were  glad  and  yet  they  were  not.  Their  stay  at 
Lukenga's  had  been  exceedingly  pleasant.  They  had 
eaten  more  hogs,  dogs,  goats  and  chickens  than  ever 
before,  and  were  just  as  fat  and  greasy  as  could  be. 

A  BEAUTIFUL  BIRD. — I  was  tempted  time  and 
again  to  ask  the  king  for  his  beautiful  gray  parrot. 
It  was  always  put  by  the  servants  on  the  outer  high 
fence.  Every  morning  when  anyone  approached  the 
kings'  gate  it  would  call  out,  "Batie  by  ne ;  Batie  by 
ne!"  (People  are  coming;  people  are  coming).  The 
bird  was  not  only  beautiful,  but  could  talk  fluently, 
•ing,  whistle  and  crow. 

A  RELUCTANT  FABEWELL. — My  men  ilngle  file 
144 


Matadi  and  the  Congo  River. 


Luebo  Rapids  on  the  Lulua  River 


BACK  TO  LUEBO  146 

moved  forward  loaded  down  with  Bakuba  curios, 
cloth,  rugs,  masks,  mats,  hats,  cups  and  plenty  of 
food.  The  parting  with  King  Lukenga  was  touch- 
ing. He  was  king,  but  he  had  a  kindly  heart,  and  I 
was  removing  from  those  thousands  the  only  light 
they  had  ever  seen  and  was  leaving  them  in  their 
usual  darkness.  The  king  furnished  us  with  two 
guides  and  his  royal  mace  for  safe  conduct.  Hun- 
dreds of  men,  women  and  children  followed  us  out 
on  the  plain,  waving,  singing  and  shouting  a  fare- 
well. 

A  LARGE  LAKE. — We  returned  by  quite  a  differ- 
ent route.  One  hour's  march  from  the  capital  we 
came  to  a  large  lake.  Around  it  the  growth  of  flow- 
ers and  ferns  was  beautiful,  and  the  air  was  fra- 
grant from  blooming  trees.  Tracks  of  elephants, 
buffalo  and  deer  were  everywhere.  There  were 
great  mud  holes  where  the  elphants  came  to  wallow 
and  play. 

One  of  the  men  in  picking  berries  came  across  (as 
he  thought  and  said)  a  bundle  of  snakes.  I  dis- 
charged my  double-barrel  shotgun  at  the  horrid  fold, 
but  it  was  only  one  immense  python.  The  men  cut 
large  hunks  of  it  for  food  on  the  journey. 

Our  first  day  out  we  camped  in  a  small  village, 
Ibunch.  Many  of  the  villagers  knew  me,  as  they  had 
sold  me  eggs  at  the  capital. 

BARTERING  WITH  BATWA. — I  saw  a  number  of 
Batwa,  a  species  of  the  dwarf  family.  They  had 
baskets  full  of  white  ants,  dried  elephant  meat  and 
gre«n  corn.  I  bought  a  number  of  gray  parrots  and 


146  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

two  live  monkeys.  These  dwarfs  live  in  the  forest 
and  spend  their  time  in  hunting.  We  were  up  and 
off  very  early  next  morning,  made  a  heavy  march, 
passed  through  many  villages,  making  only  a  short 
stop  for  our  guides  to  tell  the  villagers  who  we  were. 

THROUGH  A  DARK  PASS. — There  was  one  forest 
that  seemed  interminable.  It  was  damp  and  dark, 
and  it  took  us  four  hours'  hard  marching  on  a  nar- 
row grassy  trail  to  pass  through.  Elephants  were 
so  numerous  that  I  fired  my  rifle  at  intervals  to 
frighten  them  away.  We  camped  for  the  night  at 
Suembuya.  The  people  gathered  around  in  the  ev- 
ening to  get  a  peep  at  us. 

A  NIMROD. — They  pointed  out  one  Mimanini,  who 
had  just  that  day  shot  a  leopard  with  his  bow  and  ar- 
row. The  skin  was  beautiful. 

There  was  a  palm  tree  in  the  middle  of  the  town, 
which  had  on  its  limbs  certainly  not  less  than  600 
swinging  birds'  nests,  and  all  the  trees  were  alive 
with  the  song  and  chatter  of  these  pretty  yellow 
birds. 

TAKING  PILLS. — The  people  saw  me  taking  pills 
and  asked  what  they  were.  I  told  them  that  these 
made  me  strong  for  the  journey.  At  once  they  be- 
gan to  ask  for  them,  so  I  dealt  out  according  to  the 
size  of  the  person  from  one  to  five  compound  cathar- 
tics. They  did  not  wait  for  water,  but  ate  them,  and 
seemed  to  enjoy  them  very  much. 

Our  sleep  at  Suembuya  was  broken  by  the  yelping 
jackals,  and  the  people  told  us  the  next  day  that  this 
village  was  in  the  zone  of  jackals,  hyenas  and  leop- 


BACK  TO  LUEBO  147 

ards.  In  all  the  villages  that  we  passed  through  we 
had  singing  and  service. 

FORWARD  MARCH! — On  we  marched  over  plains, 
through  forests,  swamps  and  across  streams.  We 
passed  through  fields  of  corn  and  cassava  three  and 
four  miles  long. 

BIG  TRADERS. — We  pitched  our  tent  for  the  night 
in  Balong,  and  natives  came  from  three  nearby  vil- 
lages to  barter  with  us.  They  brought  dozens  of 
large  vampire  bats,  dried  fish  and  eels,  and  stringed 
pods  of  red  and  black  pepper. 

The  people  were  so  pleased  to  have  us  and  begged 
that  we  stay  in  their  village  for  many  days.  They 
wanted  to  exchange  parrots,  monkeys  and  other 
things  for  cowries,  beads  and  salt.  I  am  certain  I 
could  have  bought  fifty  tame  red-tailed  parrots,  the 
most  of  them  talkers,  speaking  the  native  tongue. 

No  (TSETSE)  FLEES. — In  all  my  wanderings  in  this 
territory,  by  streams,  through  forests  and  over 
plains,  I  did  not  see  a  tsetse  fly.  How  blessed  these 
people  are,  being  separated  from  the  bearer  of  the 
deadly  germ  which  causes  so  much  sleeping  sickness 
and  death  on  the  lower  Congo. 

DENSELEY  POPULATED. — I  found  on  inquiring  that 
in  all  directions  there  were  thousands  of  Bakuba  in- 
habitants. I  wanted  so  much  to  visit  them,  and  hav- 
ing authority  from  their  king  there  would  be  no 
trouble. 

On  the  edge  of  the  town  there  was  a  very  big  de- 
pression in  the  earth.  A  villager  explained  it  to  be  a 
driver  ant  den,  in  which  the  weaker  of  triplets  was 


148  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

thrown.  By  this  sacrifice  the  remaining  two  babie* 
grow  strong. 

There  were  large  trails  leading  out  toward  the 
valleys  and  hills,  a  sign  of  many  people. 

TRANSMITTING  MESSAGES. — While  at  Suembuya  I 
heard  one  of  their  great  wooden  drums  going,  beat- 
ing out  the  dots  and  dashes,  which  were  heard  and 
understood  by  villagers  widely  separated.  Messages 
are  picked  up  and  transmitted  to  any  part  of  the 
country  by  this  crude  way. 

KEPT  LATE  HOURS. — Though  in  dangerous  vil- 
lages, because  of  prowling  animals,  we  sat  each 
night  by  a  big  camp  fire  with  a  crowd  of  interested 
and  inquisitive  natives  until  midnight.  Men  and 
women  asked  questions.  "How  do  you  get  to  the 
foreign  country?"  "What  do  you  eat?"  "What  lan- 
guage do  you  speak?"  "Talk  some  of  it  for  us."  A» 
soon  as  I  answered  one  question  they  had  another 
ready.  At  some  of  my  answers  they  laughed  heart- 
ily. When  I  tried  to  tell  them  that  we  had  a  season 
of  the  year  that  it  got  so  cold  you  could  walk  over 
streams  without  breaking  through,  and  that  some 
of  our  houses  were  taller  than  a  palm  tree,  they  in- 
credulously shook  their  heads.  They  had  never  felt 
a  cold  day  or  seen  a  high  house.  I  told  them  how 
we  bought  land  and  sometimes  water,  too. 

Before  I  bade  them  good-night  I  showed  them  the 
Bible  and  gave  them  "History"  (His  Story),  the 
story  of  Jesus.  It  was  wonderful ;  they  did  not  un- 
derstand it.  But  some  day,  through  some  mission- 
ary, the  Holy  Spirit  will  make  it  plain. 


BACK  TO  LUEBO  149 

Think  of  it,  thousands  upon  thousands  of  people 
throughout  this  valley  have  never  heard  a  word. 

IBANCHE. — The  people  of  Ibanche  heard  of  our 
coming  and  came  far  out  into  the  jungle  to  meet  us. 
Near  the  town  court  house  (a  big  open  shed)  I  had 
my  tent  stretched  and  lay  down  for  a  rest,  for  my 
body  was  tired  and  my  feet  sore  from  the  hard 
marches. 

My  rest  was  short,  for  the  people  fell  over  the 
tent  ropes,  trying  to  get  a  peep  inside.  I  had  my 
dinner  of  chicken  fried  with  palm  oil,  boiled  greens 
seasoned  with  palm  oil,  and  red  pepper  and  corn 
pone  greased  over  with  palm  oil.  Then  I  took  a 
walk  up  and  down  the  two  streets,  followed  by 
scores  of  happy  men,  women  and  children.  The 
houses,  with  a  few  exceptions,  were  not  as  large 
as  those  at  King  Lukenga's,  but  built  on  the  same 
style.  Most  of  them  had  small  trees  growing  at 
each  end  and  strong  cords  around  the  trees  and  fast- 
ened to  the  houses  to  steady  them  in  storms. 

THE  WITCHES'  HOUSE. — The  witches'  house  was  a 
small  shed  in  the  center  of  the  town  under  which  the 
condemned  person  sat  until  market  day,  when  poi- 
son was  publicly  given.  They  told  me  that  hundreds 
of  persons  had  sat  under  the  fetich  covered  shed.  I 
asked  if  the  accused  were  not  afraid  and  often  ran 
away.  They  were  surprised  at  the  inquiry  and  re- 
plied with  emphasis,  "No,  never!  They  are  mad  be- 
cause they  have  been  accused  and  are  anxious  to 
drink  the  poison  to  prove  their  innocence."  Poor, 
deluded  people  without  God  and  the  truth. 


150  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

MANY  VILLAGES. — I  visited  the  villages  of  Bon 
gomiba  and  Boincala,  which  were  nearby.  I  was  told 
that  there  were  many  other  villages  across  the  creek, 
and  Ibanj  was  a  great  market  center  for  all  this  dis- 
trict. 

NEARING  HOME. — The  guides  told  me  that  before 
us  lay  six  large  Bakete  towns,  Bena  Kabu,  Bena 
Nsangala,  Bena  Kabash,  Bena  Kapunga,  Bena  Ka- 
lamba,  and  Bena  Kasenga;  and  after  passing  these 
we  would  be  back  at  Luebo.  There  was  but  one 
stream  lying  between  and  one  very  large  and  dark 
forest  through  which  we  would  pass. 

UNDER  THE  PALMS. — I  had  been  away  from  Luebo 
for  a  long  time  and  was  thinking  of  the  little  day 
school  and  daily  Bible  lesson  under  the  palm  tree  at 
Luebo.  Those  few  little  children,  started  in  the 
alphabet  marked  fresh  every  day  in  the  sand  by  Mr. 
Lapsley  are  still  there. 

The  first  daily  Bible  class,  those  same  little  ones 
who  daily  sat  on  mats  and  eagerly  and  inquiringly 
looked  into  the  missionary's  face  as  he  patiently  and 
most  earnestly  gave  them  their  first  lessons  of  Jesus, 
are  waiting  still. 

BENA  KABRU. — After  an  hour's  march  across  a 
plain  we  were  overtaken  in  the  bush  by  a  heavy  rain, 
which  lasted  forty  minutes.  But  we  marched  on ;  in 
fact,  there  was  nothing  else  to  do  but  to  keep  going. 
When  we  reached  Kabau  we  took  the  chickens  out 
of  the  baskets  and  tied  them  by  their  legs  and  turned 
the  parrots  into  the  street,  then  stood  up  ourselves 
in  the  sun  to  dry.  There  were  plenty  of  sheep  and 


BACK  TO  LUEBO  151 

goats  in  Kabau.  The  sheep  have  no  wool  on  them. 
The  little  children  brought  baskets  full  of  berries 
resembling  very  much  strawberries.  Under  the 
town  shed  there  were  a  number  of  travelers,  Zappo 
Zap  (cannibals).  They  were  from  Baluba  country 
far  south  and  traveling  north  with  a  caravan  of 
slaves  to  sell  in  exchange  for  ivory,  rubber,  cam 
wood  and  goats. 

No  CORN. — I  tried  to  get  corn  for  my  people  and 
myself,  but  could  not  buy  any.  These  people  raise 
and  eat  cassava,  a  root  resembling  a  long  sweet  po- 
tato. When  it  is  dried,  beaten  into  flour  and  boiled 
it  resembles  very  much  a  big  ball  of  putty,  though  it 
is  their  staple  food — bread.  Bits  are  pinched  off 
with  the  fingers,  worked  with  the  hands  into  small 
balls  and  dipped  into  palm  oil  or  gravy  and  swal- 
lowed without  chewing. 

FREAKS  OF  NATURE. — I  saw  two  Albinos,  a  large 
boy  and  a  man.  They  had  rough  white  skin  and 
woolly  hair  and  very  peculiar  pinkish-gray  eyes. 
They  seemed  entirely  out  of  place.  It  made  a  shiver 
run  through  me,  to  look  at  them.  We  had  our  song 
and  preaching  service  early  in  the  afternoon.  They 
had  never  heard  of  Jesus — never! 

TRAVELING  MINSTREL. — At  5  o'clock  about  200 
Bakete  people  from  Bena  Chitala  came  into  the 
town.  The  women  carried  on  their  heads  long  bas- 
kets, in  which  was  stored  their  clean  loin  clothes, 
strings  of  beads,  cowrie  anklets  and  their  husbands' 
dress-up  costumes.  The  men  had  their  spears,  bows, 
arrows,  ivory  horns  and  drums  of  many  sizes.  A 


152  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

very  large  camp  fire  was  built  in  the  middle  of  the 
ttreet  and  they  danced  until  daylight. 

PREPARING  FOR  THE  LAST  DASH. — Early  in  the 
morning  I  borrowed  a  native  razor.  They  are  made 
by  the  blacksmith  from  steel  and  look  very  much 
like  a  thin  chisel.  You  wet  your  face  with  clear  wa- 
ter and  by  many  painful  downward  strokes  you 
"chisel"  off  your  beard. 

THREADING  THROUGH  THE  FOREST. — After  leav- 
ing Kabau  we  passed  through  two  large  villages 
with  short  stops.  Our  guides  said,  "Now  we  have  a 
real  forest."  It  took  us  three  hours  single  file  fol- 
lowing the  narrow  winding  trail  to  pass  through. 
There  were  but  few  spots  where  the  rays  of  the  sun 
had  ever  touched.  In  the  denseness  of  the  forest 
we  did  not  even  hear  the  singing  of  a  bird.  Scarcely 
a  word  was  spoken  until  we  emerged  into  the  bright 
sunlight. 

A  TOWN  MOVING. — We  found  one  of  the  villages 
on  our  route  (Bena  Kalamba)  moving.  The  witch 
doctors,  the  lawyers,  and  all  the  important  men  had 
decided  that  the  village  had  become  unhealthy.  No- 
tice had  been  given  to  the  people  months  before,  and 
on  a  set  day  each  man  and  his  family  by  taking  his 
house  apart  in  sections  moved  to  a  spot  previously 
selected.  In  moving  the  location  is  the  same  in  the 
new  village  as  it  was  in  the  old.  So  it  is  no  trouble 
for  a  visitor  to  find  his  friends  in  their  new  homes. 

The  whole  town  moves  a  mile  away  in  a  day,  puts 
up  houses  and  occupies  them  when  the  sun  goe« 
down.  All  Bakete  villages  move  every  ten  yearg. 


BACK  TO  LUEBO  158 

DISPATCHING  A  MESSENGER. — When  four  miles 
from  Luebo  I  sent  a  runner  to  let  our  people  know 
that  we  were  coming.  Our  man,  N'Goma,  though 
loaded  with  good  things  from  the  king's  country, 
struck  a  trot  and  soon  disappeared. 

On  we  marched  across  the  hot  plain.  In  the  dis- 
tance were  familiar  scenes  of  forest  and  hills  beyond 
our  Mission  and  the  Lulua  river.  We  were  filled 
with  joy  and  gladness.  God  had  been  mighty  good 
to  us. 

A  HEARTY  WELCOME. — They  are  coming!  They 
are  coming!  cried  one  of  our  men,  and  they  struck 
up  a  native  song,  singing  at  the  top  of  their  voices. 
And  away  yonder  was  a  crowd  like  a  great  cloud 
with  palms  moving  in  their  hands.  They,  too,  start- 
ed a  song  as  they  vied  in  speed  with  one  another 
over  the  plain.  For  half  an  hour  we  greeted  one 
another.  They  shook  our  hands,  caught  us  around 
the  waist,  and  many  expressed  their  joy  by  letting 
the  tears  flow. 

The  caravan  was  soon  relieved  of  their  loads,  for 
our  friends — men,  women,  and  children,  bore  them 
away. 

No  PLACE  LIKE  HOME. — In  a  little  while  I  WM 
seated  in  a  reclining  chair  on  my  broad,  cool  ver- 
anda. 

MAKING  MY  REPORT.— The  next  day  I  called  all 
the  people,  Bakete  and  Baluba,  together,  and  briefly 
made  a  report  of  our  wanderings  in  the  "Forbidden 
Land"  of  King  Lukenga. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

HIS  KINGDOM  COMING  IN  CONGO. 

A  RETROSPECTIVE  VIEW. — From  the  time  Mr. 
Lapsley  and  I  landed  on  the  Congo  five  years  elapsed 
before  there  was  a  convert. 

Those  were  great  days,  getting  acquainted  with 
missionaries  and  methods. 

The  walk  of  260  miles  to  Stanley  Pool ;  the  return 
trip  and  across  on  the  north  bank  to  Manyanga; 
journeying  to  Bolobo  by  the  steamer  Henry  Reed; 
the  Kwango  Kwilu  expedition  in  the  rainy  sea- 
son with  two  large  canoes ;  the  exceedingly  difficult 
trip  of  thirty  days  by  a  small  steamer  up  the  Kasai 
to  Luebo;  learning  the  language  by  sounds  and 
signs;  making  treaties  with  chiefs  and  tribes;  our 
explorations  over  land  south  to  Malanje,  the  region 
of  the  Lulua  and  the  cannibal  tribe  Zappo  Zap; 
adapting  and  adjusting  oursleves  to  inferior  en- 
vironments ;  the  imparting  of  His  great  and  glorious 
message  to  these  weak  and  warped  minds  by  signs, 
language  and  life  was  a  joy  far  more  than  we  could 
possibly  express. 

Twenty-six  years  ago  two  young  men  of  the  South- 
ern Presbyterian  Church  went  to  Africa  as  mission- 
aries, landed  at  Luebo,  Congo  Beige,  with  tent,  a  few 
articles  of  clothing  and  food. 

They  found  the  natives  confused  with  many  fam- 
ily feuds  and  tribal  fights.  There  was  not  a  married 

154 


HIS  KINGDOM  COMING  IN  CONGO      155 

couple  (from  the  Christian  standpoint)  in  all  the 
land.  They  had  never  seen  a  book.  Not  a  prayer 
had  ever  been  offered  or  a  hymn  sung.  The  Sabbath 
day  was  not  known.  They  had  never  heard  the 
name  of  Jesus. 

But  God's  word  was  not  to  return  unto  Him  void, 
and  in  1895  a  young  boy  about  twelve  years  old, 
whom  we  called  "Dick,"  professed  his  faith  in 
Christ.  Then  in  quick  succession  followed  six  other 
boys.  There  was  joy  in  the  presence  of  the  angels, 
and  who  rejoiced  more  than  the  sainted  Mr.  Laps- 
ley? 

Population  of  our  field,  estimated 1,810,000 

Foreign  workers 64 

Children  of  foreign  workers 35 

Native  workers 1,977 

Out  stations,  places  of  regular  meeting. . .  610 

Organized  congregations 9 

Communicants 22,224 

Additions  in  1921 1,495 

Christian  constituency 44,056 

Sabbath  schools 510 

Sabbath  school  membership 33,327 

Schools 599 

Students 21,346 

Income  from  native  sources    $     5,716 

Wherever  there  is  a  mission  station  you  can  ask 
the  Christians  to  repeat  for  you  not  only  a  verse,  but 
whole  passages  of  Scripture  perfectly.  The  Lord's 
Prayer,  the  Ten  Commandments  and  the  shorter  cat- 
echism they  know  by  heart.  They  can  ask  and  an- 


156  PIONEERS  IN  CONGO 

swer  every  question  of  the  catechism  without  a  sin- 
gle mistake.  Dozens  of  hymns  they  know  and  sing 
without  the  book.  There  is  scarcely  a  Christian 
family  without  the  prayer  altar.  They  also  have  in 
their  homes,  or  in  the  bush,  a  hiding  place  for  secret 
prayer.  Every  convert  is  a  missionary  to  the  un- 
saved. They  are  liberal  and  count  it  a  pleasure  to 
give  a  tenth  part  to  Jesus.  The  Sabbath  is  beauti- 
fully observed,  no  fishing,  hunting  or  traveling.  The 
witch  doctor's  business  is  fast  passing  away,  the 
people  come  to  the  missionaries  for  treatment. 

Think  of  the  Pantop's  home  with  more  than  a  hun- 
dred girls  in  training  for  Christian  work.  Girls  are 
trained  in  domestic  science  and  sewing.  Campfire 
Girls  and  Boy  Scouts  are  supporting  an  evangelist. 
Native  Christians  are  running  the  big  cylinder 
press,  turning  out  hundreds  of  school  books,  hymn 
books,  catechisms  and  the  Bible.  The  books  are  also 
bound  by  them  and  used  by  thousands  who  were  once 
heathen. 

The  native  evangelists  throughout  the  country 
preach  twice  a  day,  and  a  new  sermon  every  time. 
When  the  big  bells  at  the  Central  Mission  stations 
ring  out  their  inviting  peals  you  can  see  hundreds  of 
natives  with  their  wives  and  children,  hymn  book 
and  Bible  under  their  arms,  wending  their  way  to 
the  house  of  God.  They  sit  quietly  without  even  a 
whisper  and  are  undivided  in  their  attention.  They 
are  there  on  the  King's  business.  The  hymn  is  an- 
nounced by  the  missionary  and  quickly  they  turn 
to  the  number  and  join  heartily  in  the  singing.  The 


HIS  KINGDOM  COMING  IN  CONGO       157 

head  is  bowed  in  solemn  and  devout  prayer.  The 
chapter  is  mentioned  and  the  people  (sometimes 
thousands)  turn  to  the  book  and  chapter  and  read 
alternately. 

No  tongue  can  tell  the  great  work  that  God  has 
wrought  through  the  Southern  Presbyterian  Church 
for  these  people,  who  only  yesterday  were  in  dark- 
ness and  death. 

A  PROSPECTIVE  VIEW. — There  are  in  this  region, 
and  they  are  yours,  1,810,000  souls.  Thousands 
have  never  heard  a  word;  thousands  have  never 
heard  of  a  missionary ;  thousands  have  never  seen  a 
single  ray. 

What  a  vast  harvest  field!  By  the  sign  of  the 
cross  and  in  His  name  we  shall  conquer. 


LIFE  SKETCH. 

This  book  gives  a  very  brief  sketch  of  my  first 
three  years'  movements,  out  of  the  twenty  spent  in 
the  Belgian  Congo.  We  hope  soon  to  write  and 
give  to  the  public  the  remaining  seventeen  years. 

THE  AUTHOR. 


Unbex 


Page 

African  Fever 21,  84 

American  Baptist  Union 

Mission 25,  28 

Answer  to  Prayer 105 

Ants,  Black  Driver 70 

Red 71 

White 71 

Babies  Born  White 129 

Stuffing   129 

Bakete  People 78 

Bakuba    Cleanliness    123 

Honesty 123 

Superstitions    ....    123 

z        Courting 127 

Marriages 127 

Good  Farmers   101 

Graves 143 

Have  No  Idols  ....117 

Industries 138 

Origin  Of 119 

People 94 

Serenade 120 

Banana 18 

Bananas 18 

Banqua's  Spirit 36 

Bateke  People 32 

Black  Driver  Ants 70 

Black  Monkeys   60 

Boa  Constrictor,  25  feet 

long 29 

Boma 19 

Bruce,  Mrs.  Ann 12 

Burying  the  Living  . .  135,  136 


Page 

Buying  Houses 68 

Canoe,  Purchasing  a 42 

Carriers,  Securing 41 

Christmas  in  Central 

Africa,  1891 43 

City  of  10,000  Inhabitants  119 
Civilization  Among  the 

Bakuba 137 

Comforted  by  a  Familiar 

Language 63 

"Coney  Island" 78 

Cooking,  Quaint 77 

"Crocks"  in  the  N'Kissy 30 

Dancing  People 92 

Day  School 64 

Dense  Population 147 

Dogs  that  Do  Not  Bark  ...  103 

Drum  Telegraphy 148 

Dwarfs 145 

Eating  Bananas 18 

Elephant  Hunting 96 

Exchanging  Presents 96 

Feuds 73 

Fever,  African 21,  84 

First  Congo  Service   28 

Day  School  in  the 

Kasai  Valley 64 

Hunt 35 

Sabbath  School 65 

Sermon  in  the  Kasai  . .  .48 

Spiritual  Interest 66 

Flies  Rarely  Seen 96 

Frissell,  Dr.  H.  B 18 


Page 
Galvanized  Iron  Church  ...  .29 

General  Armstrong 13 

Great  Storm 57 

Town 110 

Greetings  from  Lukenga  . .  110 

Grenfell,  Rev.   Geo 33 

Guinea  Fowl 101 

Guinness,  Dr.  Grattan  and 

Family 16 

Hampton  Institute  .    ...  13,  14 

Hell's  Cauldron 22 

Henkel,  Dr.  S.  H 12 

Homesickness 63 

Hostile  Town 44 

Houston,  Dr.  M.  H 15 

Hunting  Hippopotami    .    ...33 

Ibanche 149 

Images  Made  from  Trees. .  .72 

Indian  Corn 95 

Interview  with  Lukenga   . .  115 

Iron  and  Copper 101 

"Jiggers" 29,  102 

Kasai   River 52 

Kwango  Expedition 46 

Lapsley  as  a  Doctor   . .  56,  69 

Lapsley's  Bible   136 

Death 88 

Influence 82 

Makes  a  Journey   .82 

Praying 65 

Return  to  the 

Coast 85 

Watch 80 

Lapsley,  Rev.  S.  N 15 

Judge  Jas.  W 15 

Mrs.  Jas.  W 15 

Large  Families 128 

Laundering  Clothes  and 
Its  Effect 183 


Page 

Leap  Frog 131 

Learning  the  Language   ...  64 
Letter  to  Mrs.  Jas.  W. 

Lapsley 88 

Lions  on  the  Bank  50 

Live  Idols 94 

Liverpool    17 

London   17 

Looking  to  the  Future  . . .  144 

Lowry,  Mrs.  Annie  M 12 

Luebo  Menu 72 

Rapids 62 

Lukenga's  Annual  Feast  . .  139 

Capital 108 

Greetings  from   . .  110 
Living  Room  .    . .  116 

Lullaby    118 

Palace 114 

Provision 138 

Reluctant   Permis- 
sion   to    Return 

Luebo 144 

Sheppard's    Mes- 
sage to 101 

Lulua  River 63 

Trail 84 

McCutchan,  Rev.  Frank  ...14 

Martyrs,  Mounds  of 22 

Matadi 19 

Maxamalinge,   Prince    ....  120 
Message  to  King  Lukenga  104 
Misunderstanding  Cor- 
rected   Ill 

Monkey,  Black   60 

Mosquitoes 60 

Mounds  of  Triumphant 

Martyrs 22 

Mountain   Climbing   25 


Pag* 
Moving  a  Town  Among 

the  Bakete 160 

Mrs.  Jas.  W.   Lapsley's 

Letter  from   Sheppard    . .  88 

Native  Market 30 

N'Goma 98,  99 

"Ntomanjela"    66 

Our  Congo  Mission,  1916  .155 

Poisonous  Cup 95,  125 

Prayer,  Answer  to   106 

Preaching   in   the   Market 

Places 137 

Preparation  for  Death    . . .  141 

Purchasing  a  Canoe  42 

Quaint  Cooking 77 

Queen  N'Gankabe's  Wel- 
come   44 

Rain  Making   76 

Rainy  and  Dry  Seasons 74 

Rapids  of  Mwamba 48 

Red  Ants 71 

Red  Pepper  Test 125 

Rescue  of  Rev.  Mr.  Rogers  40 
Results  of  26  Years'  Mis- 
sionary   Effort    in    the 

Congo 155 

Rotterdam 17 

Royal  Reception 112 

Sabbath  School 65 

Sailing  for  England 15 

Scorpions  and  Spiders    .    .  .28 
Seasons,  Rainy  and  Dry... 74 

Securing  Carriers    41 

Sheppard,  Wm.  H.,  Early 

Life 12 

Sheppard,  Wm.  H.,  Call 
to  Missionary 


Page 

Service 12 

At  Warm  Springs 

Virginia 12 

At  Hampton   In- 
stitute  13,  14 

At  Tuscaloosa  .    . .  14 
In  Montgomery  .    .14 

In  Atlanta 14 

Appointment   .    .    .15 
Letter  to  Mrs.      , 
Jas.  W.  Laps- 
ley  88 

Snake  Charmer 116 

Stanley  Pool  .  .  .  .23,  30,  31 
Stanley's  Handkerchief  ....  33 
Stanley's  Wagon  Wheels... 26 

Stealing  My  Purse 97 

Steamer  "Florida" 51 

Steamer  "Henry  Reed" 42 

Strange  Collection  Baskets  27 

Strong  Current 61 

Stuffing  the  Baby   129 

Superstitions 86 

Tainted  Money 136 

Taught  to  Fight   131 

Telling  the  Old,  Old  Story  101 

Touching  Farewell 144 

Through  the  Cataracts  ...89 
Tramping  to  Stanley  Pool  23 
Traveling  Minstrel  . .  81,  151 

Treating  the  Sick 126 

Tuscaloosa  Institute 14 

Welcome  Back  to  Luebo  . .  168 

White  Ants 71 

Wissman  Falls 76 

Witch  Houses 149 

Whyte,  Mr.  Robert   17 


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